Transparency for medical services will lower cost of health care and help Coloradans compare prices
WASHINGTON –U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Roger Marshall recently introduced the bipartisan Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, which would make health care costs more transparent. The bill requires providers to publish the costs of services so Americans understand what a specific visit or procedure will cost, and have the opportunity to compare prices and get the best deal.
“You wouldn’t book a flight if you couldn’t find out the ticket price until you land — or check into a hotel without knowing if you’re paying for the Ritz or a dump. But that’s the absurd guessing game Americans play every time they need medical care,” said Hickenlooper, who sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. “We deserve to know exactly what we are paying for whether it’s a lab test, a colonoscopy, or an MRI. Our bill gives Americans that peace of mind.”
“Customers don’t walk into a restaurant only to find out how much the food costs when they get the bill. Patients should know the price of the service they need before they make any decisions,” said Marshall. “Making America Healthy Again requires empowering Americans with the best information possible to inform their life and healthcare choices: the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act will ensure prices are available to patients to support a more competitive, innovative, affordable, and high-quality healthcare system.”
“We applaud Senators Roger Marshall and John Hickenlooper for their strong, bipartisan leadership on the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. With actual, upfront, and accountable prices, patients will be able to shop for the best care with protection from rampant overcharges hiding in the shadows. We urge all senators to support this bill and pass it without delay to protect America’s patients,” said Cynthia Fisher, Founder and Chairman of Patient Rights Advocate.
When Americans go to the hospital, they often don’t know what services will cost beforehand. This forces patients to rely on their insurance to pay as much as possible and negotiate rates with providers, and robs patients of the ability to shop around for a better deal. There’s also a lack of transparency in agreements between insurance and providers.
The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act would create true transparency for health care pricing by requiring all negotiated rates and cash prices between plans and providers to be accessible.
Specifically, the bill would:
- Require machine-readable files of all negotiated rates and cash prices between plans and providers, not estimates.
- Require hospitals to post actual prices for 300 shoppable services (and for all services starting in 2026).
- Create a requirement for each patient to receive an Explanation of Benefits statement
- Require providers or facilities to include a detailed itemized bill of each distinct item or service, or an all-in total price for bundled items if offered to the patient as an option.
For full text of the legislation, click HERE.
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