The House of Representatives passed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act on Monday. The bill aims to reduce healthcare costs by lowering out-of-pocket costs for medications and making healthcare pricing information more public.
It passed on a 320 to 71 vote. The bill was led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-New Jersey), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina). It was introduced on September 8.
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The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act has several elements that affect hospitals, insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers and other stakeholders. For example, it would require hospitals, insurers, labs, imaging providers and ambulatory surgical centers to post their prices publicly. Insurers and PBMs would also have to reveal their negotiated drug rebates and discounts.
In addition, the bill aims to lower prescription drug costs by expanding access to generic drugs and reducing out-of-pocket costs for seniors who get prescriptions at a hospital-owned outpatient facility. It also supports research for diabetes and training programs for new doctors.
“The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act does exactly what it says it does—it delivers lower health care costs for the American people and brings much-needed transparency to our nation’s complex health care system,” Pallone said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill is a victory for everyone who has ever struggled to navigate and understand the cost of a health care procedure or a prescription drug.”
Smith echoed Pallone’s comment.
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“Millions of American families have struggled for far too long to afford the cost of their health care,” Smith said in a news release. “What’s worse is they have been unable to anticipate those costs because our current system has left too many Americans at the mercy of nontransparent pricing on treatments, medicines, and procedures. By requiring nearly every corner of our health system to publicly disclose their prices, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act will empower patients and create incentives to lower prices across the board.”
Several organizations are applauding the passage of the bill, including Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, an organization that aims to lower the cost of medications. Merith Basey, executive director of the organization, said she hopes the move spurs further action in the Senate.
“The House’s decisive bipartisan action tonight in passing the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act including measures to increase transparency and further tackle high drug prices by improving the generic drug approval process, is highly encouraging and moves the Congress in the right direction,” Basey said in a statement. “This development boosts the momentum for the Senate leadership to move forward with a comprehensive health care package, encompassing bills aimed at lowering drug prices by addressing patent abuses and other anti-competitive tactics employed by drug companies to delay generic and biosimilar competition.”
Better Solutions for Healthcare, a coalition of business and healthcare organizations, also came out in support of the move.
“Today’s vote marks a major milestone in our efforts to hold corporate hospital systems accountable for anti-competitive practices that drive up the cost of healthcare in America,” said Connie Partoyan, executive director of Better Solutions for Healthcare, in a statement. “Hospital systems are not above accountability, and the House has sent a strong message of bipartisan consensus for the principles of increasing price transparency, reining in unreasonable markups, and promoting honest billing.”
The bill will now move on to the Senate.
Photo: Bet_Noire, Getty Images
