Trump Administration Weighs Publicizing Secret Rates Hospitals and Doctors Negotiate With Insurers

The Trump administration is sounding out an idea to require that hospitals, doctors and other medical providers publicly disclose the “secretly-negotiated” prices they charge insurance companies for services, a move that proponents say would expose for the first time the actual cost of care. [Some are skeptical that anyone in the health sector knows the actual cost of care.] Hospitals and insurers negotiate pricing contracts which are generally bound by confidentiality. HHS is seeking public comment on whether patients have a right to see the discounted prices in advance of obtaining care.