Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First | The White House

Does your hospital post their charges and fees for patients to see ?  If not then this Presidential Executive Order should be brought to their attention. You may also report te hospital  to the White House

Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First | The White House

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: (brief summary)

Section 1.  Purpose.  My Administration seeks to enhance the ability of patients to choose the healthcare that is best for them.  To make fully informed decisions about their healthcare, patients must know the price and quality of a good or service in advance.  With the predominant role that third-party payers and Government programs play in the American healthcare system, however, patients often lack both access to useful price and quality information and the incentives to find low-cost, high-quality care.  Opaque pricing structures may benefit powerful special interest groups, such as large hospital systems and insurance companies, but they generally leave patients and taxpayers worse off than would a more transparent system.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the Federal Government to ensure that patients are engaged with their healthcare decisions and have the information requisite for choosing the healthcare they want and need.  The Federal Government aims to eliminate unnecessary barriers to price and quality transparency; to increase the availability of meaningful price and quality information for patients; to enhance patients’ control over their own healthcare resources, including through tax-preferred medical accounts; and to protect patients from surprise medical bills.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the Federal Government to ensure that patients are engaged with their healthcare decisions and have the information requisite for choosing the healthcare they want and need.  The Federal Government aims to eliminate unnecessary barriers to price and quality transparency; to increase the availability of meaningful price and quality information for patients; to enhance patients’ control over their own healthcare resources, including through tax-preferred medical accounts; and to protect patients from surprise medical bills. 

Sec. 3.  Informing Patients About Actual Prices.  (a)  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall propose a regulation, consistent with applicable law, to require hospitals to publicly post standard charge information, including charges and information based on negotiated rates and for common or shoppable items and services, in an easy-to-understand, consumer-friendly, and machine-readable format using consensus-based data standards that will meaningfully inform patients’ decision making and allow patients to compare prices across hospitals. 

Sec. 4.  Establishing a Health Quality Roadmap.  Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs shall develop a Health Quality Roadmap (Roadmap) that aims to align and improve reporting on data and quality measures across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Health Insurance Marketplace, the Military Health System, and the Veterans Affairs Health System.  

Sections 5 and 6 may read at the link below, which encompasses the entire order

Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First | The White House:

Sec. 7.  Addressing Surprise Medical Billing.  Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit a report to the President on additional steps my Administration may take to implement the principles on surprise medical billing announced on May 9, 2019.