Contact: Madison Wiberg, Madison.Wiberg@mail.house.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Mike Gallagher, joined by his colleague Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), introduced bipartisan legislation to require all medical providers, including insurers and drug companies, to publicly disclose costs for all products, services and procedures. The Transparency in All Health Care Pricing Act of 2019 requires all price disclosures to be available at the point of purchase; in print and online; and include all wholesale, retail, subsidized, discounted or other prices.
“The rising cost of healthcare is one of the issues I hear about most from families across Northeast Wisconsin,” said Congressman Gallagher. “This is why I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation with Rep. Perlmutter that would require healthcare providers to tell you exactly how much their procedures, products, and services cost. Clear and easy-to-understand pricing will increase competition, and competition will bring down healthcare costs for everyone.”
“Ensuring accessible price transparency in healthcare is a key part of the healthcare puzzle. It will allow consumers and patients to have the information they need to make important medical decisions for them and their family,” said Congressman Perlmutter. “Improving transparency and accountability in the healthcare market will help drive competition, bring down prices and promote high-quality services.”
“Healthcare is the only industry where consumers don’t know the price of a service until after they’ve had it done, when they no longer have a choice. If consumers could see real prices in advance, they could shop for healthcare the way they shop for everything else, by comparing quality and price,” said Marni Jameson Carey, executive director of the Association of Independent Doctors, a national nonprofit trade association with more than a 1,000 doctor members in 35 states working to lower healthcare costs. “Once consumers are armed with information, they will move the market. The cost needle could come down very quickly.”
Click here for text of the bill.
