The legislation builds on rules issued during President Donald Trump’s first term, requiring hospitals to publish negotiated prices and making it easier for patients to compare the cost of hundreds of common medical services. According to the latest data from the federal government, more than 500 hospitals in 49 states and the District of Columbia have not complied with those rules.

Few industries expect consumers to make expensive purchases without first revealing the price. Hospitals have operated that way for decades. The result has been relentless price increases, with little pressure to compete on cost for patients. Between 2000 and 2022, hospital prices climbed by more than 220% — more than twice the overall rate of inflation.

Greater transparency has already been shown to place downward pressure on hospital prices. A recent study published in the Journal of Health Economics found that negotiated prices fell by about 5% for surgical procedures and roughly 9% for radiology services after prices became publicly available.

To function properly, markets require information. Patients and payers can’t reward lower-cost providers — and hospitals have little reason to compete — when prices are hidden.

Republicans will spend the coming months talking about healthcare affordability. Hospital price transparency gives them more than a talking point. It advances a simple principle that should command broad support: patients deserve to know what healthcare costs before they receive it.

Healthcare affordability will be a defining issue as Republicans make their case for retaining control of Congress. Hospital price transparency gives them more than a campaign talking point. It gives them a tangible reform that empowers patients, encourages competition, and helps reduce one of the biggest drivers of rising healthcare costs.

Sally C. Pipes (@sallypipes) is president, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is The World’s Medicine Chest: How America Achieved Pharmaceutical Supremacy—and How to Keep It (Encounter 2025).

Original source: US