WHAT:
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS), held a hearing today to examine recently adopted state laws and policies that improve transparency of health care costs for consumers, making information more readily available.
WHY:
“According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), we spent $3.3 trillion on health care in 2016, which means nearly 18 percent of the overall share of gross domestic product was related to health care spending," said #SubOversight Chairman Harper. “About 32 percent of health care spending in 2016 was on hospital care, 20 percent was on physician and clinical services, and about 10 percent of the spending was on prescription drugs."
“Unsurprisingly, as health care costs increase, most patients want to know more about how much different medical services and products are going to cost them. We all do," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR). “I’ve heard numerous stories about individuals who were going to have a medical procedure or lab work performed and found it nearly impossible, and in some instances impossible, to learn how much it was going to cost them before they got the care. A lot of doctors don’t even know how much different services are going to cost."
WHO:
* Michael Chernew, Professor, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School (Opening Statement )
* Jamie King, Professor, UC Hastings College of Law (Opening Statement )
KEY MOMENTS:
#SubOversight Chairman Harper used his questioning to follow up on remarks offered by Dr. King, asking her why she thinks many of the transparency initiatives focused on changing consumer behavior have not been very successful, and about the interchangeable services that have seen greater success. Watch the exchange here.
Dr. King made the case that there is a role for the federal government in bringing greater transparency to health care costs, stating, “For transparency initiatives to achieve their full effect at the state level, the federal government must make changes. Despite the need for federal policy to maximize health care transparency efforts, policymakers should craft changes to preserve state flexibility and innovation. Fortunately, Congress, more than any other entity, has the ability to address the most significant barriers to price transparency in health care and maximize the tremendous untapped potential of existing state initiatives, in particular APCDs [all payer claims databases]."
Dr. Chernow pointed out some areas where transparency initiatives have not been successful in lowering the cost of care, but stressed that it is important we not lose sight of seeking these improvements to the health care market.
“They [transparency initiatives] are important as we move to newer, innovative benefit designs that attempt to help patients shop. They need not be tremendously detailed and may provide broad categories of price (and/or quality, which I admittedly have not emphasized enough)," said Dr. Chernow. “For example, they can label providers high value or preferred. Simpler information is easier for patients to digest and act upon."
RESOURCES:
The Majority Memorandum, witness testimony, and an archived webcast are available online HERE.
