Trump’s Price Transparency Rule for Health Care Begins: ‘A Huge Moment’

A price transparency rule for American consumers to more easily view what health care services will cost takes effect today after having been imposed by former President Trump.

In October 2020, Trump finalized a rule that requires health insurers and self-insured plans to disclose their prices and cost-sharing information for consumers to view. The rule is set to give 200 million Americans insured by private healthcare providers access to real-time pricing information and costs.

“Donald Trump really does deserve credit for this anti-monopoly rule on price transparency for insurers, hospitals, doctors, et al,” said Matt Stoller who writes an anti-monopoly newsletter and works at the American Economic Liberties Project.

Health care industry insiders told Axios that the price transparency rule is “massive” and “a huge moment.”

“On all these insurance company websites, in all of these files, the real price of health care is coming out. Not just for hospitals, but for all types of services,” one executive said.

For years, Americans have increasingly spent more and more on health care services. In 2021, Americans spent, on average, about $12,300, totaling more than $4 trillion in costs. This was a nearly 10 percent increase in health care spending compared to 2020.

Americans trapped in surprise billing situations have long been documented. In one case, a Colorado woman who suffered in a car crash was told she would only pay about $1,300 in medical bills. She was later billed about $230,000.

In another case, a couple lost their baby at 25-days-old and were later hit with medical bills totaling $257,000. In a separate case, a man lost his father to the Chinese coronavirus and was later hit with medical bills exceeding $1 million.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.