FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 15, 2023
Last week, Congress took an important step toward improving health care affordability for American families and employers. The bipartisan Lower Costs, More Transparency Act aims to address a primary driver of increasing health care costs — the high and rising prices charged by large hospital systems — by improving price transparency and advancing site-neutral payment reform. We applaud the bipartisan champions’ efforts to make health care more transparent and affordable and urge the House to pass the bill.
Price transparency is a crucial part of making health care more affordable and accessible to American patients and employers. The bill takes a meaningful step toward improving price transparency by requiring all hospitals to publicly disclose the underlying price of health care services, which a recent poll shows 87% of voters support. Additionally, the legislation includes policies that begin to address unfair hospital billing practices and the need for site-neutral provider payments where patients pay the same amount for the same services regardless of where the service is performed.
While there are other actions Congress can take to improve health care transparency and affordability, the legislation represents a critical step to address these issues. We stand ready to support bipartisan efforts to improve price transparency and address other predatory practices that lead to higher health care costs for patients, employers, and taxpayers. We urge the House to pass the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act as soon as possible and send it to the Senate for strong consideration.
Sincerely,
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Benefits Council
Arnold Ventures
The ERISA Industry Committee
Families USA
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Purchaser Business Group on Health
Small Business Majority
About American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 130,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the largest medical society devoted solely to primary care. Family physicians conduct approximately one in five office visits — that’s 192 million visits annually or 48 percent more than the next most visited medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. To learn more about the specialty of family medicine and the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, visit www.aafp.org. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s consumer website, www.familydoctor.org.