On June 10, 2026, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing to examine proposals to improve price transparency in the health sector. These proposals included publishing pricing lists for health insurers and hospitals, requiring additional information in Medicare Advantage encounter data, and reporting related to ownership of health care facilities. There was strong bipartisan support for steps to increase price transparency and interest in understanding the impacts of such proposals on patients and employers. Concerns were also raised about the effects of consolidation and private equity involvement in the health care sector.
OPENING STATEMENTS
- Subcommittee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9)
- Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO-1)
- Full Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2)
- Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6)
WITNESS TESTIMONY
- Carol Skenes, Chief of Staff, Turquoise Health – Testimony
- Shawn Gremminger, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions – Testimony
- Benedic Ippolito, PhD, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute – Testimony
- Christopher Whaley, PhD, Associate Director of the Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research and Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health – Testimony
- Sophia Tripoli, MPH, Senior Director of Health Policy, Families USA – Testimony
LEGISLATION BEING CONSIDERED
- H.R.___, to require hospitals, surgical centers, labs, and imaging providers to post prices and require health plans to disclose negotiated rates, cost-sharing estimates, and PBM spread pricing
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H.R. ___, to require hospitals post prices on the walls
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H.R. ___, to require health insurance issuers to publish overhead costs and claim payments
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H.R. ___, to require displaying of claim denial rates by insurers
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H.R. 5582, to provide for hospital and insurer price transparency
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H.R. 9117, to require health plan administrators to disclose pricing and payment data to plans, and to require itemized explanations of benefits and patient bills
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H.R. ___, to require the inclusion of certain information in Medicare Advantage encounter data
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H.R. ___, to require mandatory reporting with respect to certain health-related ownership information
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H.R. ___, to limit the compensation that may be paid to agents and brokers by Medicare Advantage organizations
MEMBER DISCUSSION
Consolidation and Ownership
Concerns were raised about how consolidation and private equity ownership can affect health pricing. Subcommittee Vice Chair Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1) asked what was driving higher prices, to which Mr. Whaley responded that consolidation was the greatest factor. Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6), and Reps. Kim Schrier (D-WA-8) and Marc Veasey (D-TX-33) were curious about why transparency in ownership was important. Mr. Whaley highlighted that when ownership is opaque, it can be extremely difficult for researchers to understand the impacts of consolidation, especially when single transactions are often small but greatly increase market power. Ms. Tripoli also commented that understanding ownership can help researchers and regulators better understand perverse incentives, such as upcoding.
Impacts of Price Transparency
Members showed bipartisan interest in understanding the potential impacts of price transparency legislation. Democratic members, such as Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO-1) and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-TX-25), commented that price transparency is important but does not directly affect affordability for patients, especially in emergency situations. Ranking Member DeGette and Rep. Ruiz were curious whether the witnesses believed price transparency legislation would reduce patient costs. Ms. Tripoli shared that price transparency would be much more useful for employers and health plan purchasers than individual patients and highlighted reinstating the Advance Premium Tax Credits as more impactful for addressing health care affordability. Subcommittee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9) hospitals are sharing their pricing rates, but it is difficult for patients to understand due to the level of complexity.
Multiple Republican members, such as Full Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2) and Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-IA-1) were curious about how employers have leveraged price transparency data to lower costs for employees. Mr. Gremminger shared that employers can use the data to engage in innovative plan designs, such as tiered pricing strategies to encourage employees to go to facilities with lower costs. Mr. Whaley shared that employers use claims data to exclude high-priced facilities. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) asked about the current barriers to employers’ access to their claims data. Mr. Gremminger explained that plans will often only provide high-level data and charge large fees if an employer would like more granular data.
Gaps in Price Transparency Reporting
There was bipartisan interest in understanding how to improve gaps in price transparency requirements currently in place. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH-12) asked how to improve the usability of current price data. Ms. Skenes shared that making the data more understandable to patients would be very helpful, as well as addressing the gaps in drug reporting and various ways insurance companies cost-share with patients. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6) was focused on understanding the gaps in ownership transparency. Ms. Tripoli stated that many smaller transactions do not meet the threshold for reporting, which makes them difficult to regulate and for intervention, if necessary. Rep. John Joyce (R-PA-13) asked the witnesses if enforcement for current price transparency measures was sufficient, to which both Mr. Whaley and Ms. Tripoli replied that it was not. Reps. Kat Cammack (R-FL-3) and Nick Langworthy (R-NY-23) wanted to understand what additional information could be beneficial to improving price transparency. Ms. Tripoli said that out-of-pocket spending and the quality of care could be beneficial, while Ms. Skene highlighted information on non-hospital entities and negotiated rates of care reimbursement.