Trump backs healthcare price transparency plan to cut medical costs
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Every day, Americans walk into the hospital not knowing how much they’ll owe when they get out. In my home state of Kansas, a mammogram costs $70 at one hospital and $800 at another. Hundreds of millions of Americans are drowning in medical debt, and we spend $5 trillion a year on a system that still doesn’t tell patients how much anything will cost until the bill arrives.
At the State of the Union, lawmakers heard a call to action from our commander in chief. President Donald Trump has spoken openly about his “great healthcare plan.” “[M]Your plan requires maximum price transparency.” He’s right, it’s simple. We have a plan to fix this, and now is the time to seize the moment.
Our “Patients Deserve Price Tags” design is designed to do just that. It enables hospitals, surgery centers, imaging centers, and laboratories to publish their real prices (real dollars and cents) before a patient even walks through the door. No more blank checks. No need to guess anymore. It turns patients back into consumers, and that’s more important than people think.
Healthcare is the only industry in America where we have completely de-consumerized; We decided that you should not find out the price before buying. Every other market in America works the same way: Prices go down when consumers can shop and providers have to compete. Every time. There is no reason why healthcare should be any different.
No matter how good medical care is, Americans need price transparency to help them make healthcare decisions. (iStock)
The numbers tell the story. Even though there has been a federal price transparency rule for more than four years, only 15% of hospitals publish prices. A cervical spine fusion at a hospital in Kansas can cost from $650 to $26,000.
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And most hospitals, three-quarters of them, hide their prices in complex algorithms that only a contracted specialist can understand. But here’s what happens when you finally let people see prices: They shop. Experts estimate that price transparency would save the average American family $1 trillion a month, or as much as $1,000 a month.
And what makes this moment truly special is this; This is not a partisan fight. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act has 18 Senate co-sponsors, Republicans and Democrats. Patient advocacy groups, employer coalitions and families across the country are behind this. Nine out of 10 Americans support price transparency, regardless of party. “If America truly wants to make life affordable again, healthcare transparency is where we start,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
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Washington doesn’t agree on much these days, but on this one we agree. There is no excuse for not acting when the White House, Congress, and the American people are all pointing in the same direction.
Trump made the call from America’s biggest stage. The legislation is written. Coalition is being established. All that’s left is to finish the job. Don’t let Washington lobbyists stop this any longer. Pass the Patients Deserve the Price Tag Act and give Americans what they’ve always deserved: a price tag before the bill.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF SEN’S NEWS. ROGER MARSHALL
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