President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing his administration to “rapidly implement and enforce” previously established healthcare price transparency regulations.
Thank you @POTUS for your steadfast leadership in issuing an executive order that mandates clear, accurate, and actionable healthcare pricing. This executive order will empower patients with the knowledge they need to make informed health decisions. At @HHSgov, we are fulfilling… pic.twitter.com/HKmbgCa7rs
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) February 26, 2025
Trump established the regulations with an original executive order in 2019. The order directed the Department of Health & Human Services to develop rules requiring hospitals and clinics to publish their service prices “in a way that’s clear, straightforward and accessible to all.”
The problem was that once the Democrat administration of then-President Biden took over, they “slow-walked” the rollout of the regulations, according to a statement from the current White House.
The statement continues by noting that, once everything is fully set up, hospitals and insurers will have to be fully transparent about the prices of their services, be it an MRI scan, a C-section delivery, etc.
“The [Trump administration] departments will ensure hospitals and insurers disclose actual prices, not estimates, and take action to make prices comparable across hospitals and insurers, including prescription drug prices,” the statement reads.
Here’s why it matters:
➡️It empowers patients through radical price transparency
➡️It lowers costs for American families
➡️It delivers on @POTUS’ promises to put American patients firsthttps://t.co/4y68JiRJLX— PatientRightsAdvocate.org (@PtRightsAdvoc) February 25, 2025
The goal of all this is to ensure Americans “get the best deal on healthcare.”
“When healthcare prices are hidden, large corporate entities like hospitals and insurance companies benefit at the expense of American patients,” the statement explains. “Price transparency will lower healthcare prices and help patients and employers get the best deal on healthcare.”
More tellingly, the statement argues that had the Biden administration implemented all of Trump’s original rules, Americans could have saved a combined $80 billion in healthcare costs by 2025.
The prior administration did implement some rules, but only after being forced by the courts. For example, in 2023 the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) sued the Biden administration for not enforcing the rules as they pertain to prescription drug prices.
“At first, [the administration] refused to enforce the policy by saying it needed to weigh complaints from health insurance companies, which hate transparency. (Health insurance companies donated to Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a nearly four-to-one margin in the 2020 election.),” according to FGA president and CEO Tarren Bragdon.
“The Biden administration eventually delayed enforcement of the policy indefinitely, despite its being on the books,” Bragdon wrote for the National Review at the time.
FGA then sued, arguing that “if the Trump-era rule were implemented, consumers could choose insurance plans with a full understanding of what the companies are charging for prescription drugs – creating more competition in the market, which can lower costs for consumers,” as reported by Fox News.
Patients have a fundamental right to control their own health care decisions, and that includes budgeting for medical expenses and prescriptions.
That’s why @TheFGA sued the Biden administration in federal court today for refusing to enforce a drug price transparency rule. https://t.co/SOlS81CZTn
— Tarren Bragdon (@TarrenBragdon) March 23, 2023
The Biden administration eventually settled the suit later that year.
“In response to our lawsuit, the Biden administration has completely withdrawn its policy of nonenforcement,” Bragdon reported in October of that year. “From now on, health insurance providers will have to provide the prices they negotiate with hospitals and doctors’ offices for prescription drugs, as well as how prices have changed over the years. Patients will be able to compare options to see who charges the least, saving them money.”
Bragdon went on to slam Biden and Democrats in general for having to be forced to do what’s good for the American people: “Americans shouldn’t have had to wait this long for price transparency on prescription drugs,” he wrote.
Huge victory for the American people and price transparency in health care! This is why we fight. https://t.co/HUGyc8aktC
— Tarren Bragdon (@TarrenBragdon) October 2, 2023
Returning to the present, Domestic Policy Council Director Andrew Bremberg celebrated Trump’s latest EO.
“This price transparency executive order is a major statement from President Trump. Healthcare price transparency will help millions of Americans and will be a cornerstone in President Trump’s healthcare legacy,” he said.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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