Trump supports a health care price transparency plan to lower medical costs
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Every day, Americans enter the hospital without knowing what they will owe when they get out. In my state of Kansas, a mammogram costs $70 at one hospital and $800 at another. One hundred million Americans are drowning in medical debt, and we spend $5 billion a year on a system that won’t tell patients how much it costs until the bill arrives.
In the State of the Union, legislators heard a call to action from our commander in chief. President Donald Trump made it clear with his “great health care plan.” “[M]y plan needs a very high value exposure.” You’re right – it’s easy. We have a plan to fix it, and now is the time to seize the moment.
That’s exactly what our “Patients Deserve Price Tags” bill is designed to do. It enables hospitals, surgery centers, imaging centers and labs to post their real prices — real dollars and cents — before a patient ever walks in the door. No more blank checks. No more guesswork. It turns patients into consumers, and that’s more important than people realize.
Health care is the only industry in America where we have completely eliminated procurement – where we have decided that you can’t know the price before you buy. Every other market in America works the same way: when buyers can buy, and suppliers have to compete, prices go down. Each time. There is no reason healthcare should be any different.
No matter how good medical care is, Americans need price transparency to help make health care decisions. (Stock)
The numbers tell the story. Even though there has been a federal transparency law for more than four years, only about 15% of hospitals post prices. At one hospital in Kansas, a cervical fusion can run anywhere from $650 to more than $26,000.
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And many hospitals, about three out of four, hide their prices with complex algorithms that only a contract specialist can understand. But here’s what happens when you finally let people see the prices: they buy. Experts estimate that price transparency would save up to $1 trillion – $1,000 per month for the average American household.
And here’s what makes this moment really special – this is not a team fight. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act has 18 Senate sponsors, Republicans and Democrats alike. Patient advocacy groups, employer unions, and families across the country support it. Nine out of 10 Americans support price transparency regardless of party affiliation. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said, “If America really wants to make life easier again, health transparency is where we start.”
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Washington doesn’t agree much these days, but on this, we agree. When the White House, Congress, and the American people are all pointing in the same direction, there is no reason to stand still.
Trump made the call on the biggest stage in America. The law is written. A coalition was formed. All that remains to be done is to finish the job. Don’t let the lobbyists in Washington stop this. Pass the Patient Fair Price Tagging Act and give Americans what they’ve always deserved – a price tag on the front of the bill.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT SEN. ROGER MARSHALL
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