On June 25, 2026, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a markup to consider 15 bills to increase price transparency across the health care sector, including hospitals and insurers, to address concerns about prior authorization and other practices by Medicare Advantage plans, and to deal with the public health threat posed by illicit drugs. This memo covers the legislation related to price transparency and Medicare Advantage. All bills were advanced to the full committee on voice votes. Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6) offered general support for the price transparency legislation but raised concerns about the Prices on the Wall Act, arguing that it could cause more confusion than it would help. Several amendments were offered during the markup but were ultimately withdrawn following a commitment from both Full Committee Chairman Bret Guthrie (R-KY-2) and Health Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9) to work on the bill before it goes to full committee.
OPENING STATEMENTS
- Full Committee Chairman Bret Guthrie (R-KY-2)
- Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6)
- Health Subcommittee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9)
- Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO-1)
PRICE TRANSPARENCY AND MEDICARE ADVANTAGE LEGISLATION MARKED UP
H.R. 9393, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act of 2026 (Reps. Guthrie (R-KY-2) and Pallone (DNJ-6)), to require hospitals, surgical centers, labs, and imaging providers to post prices and require health plans to disclose negotiated rates, cost-sharing estimates, and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) spread pricing.
- Full Committee Chair Guthrie and Ranking Member Pallone spoke in favor of this bill, highlighting the amount of bipartisan work that went into getting to this point.
- Rep. John James (R-MI-10) stated he would support this bill but believes it does not go far enough in terms of making the prices easy to understand. He shared that he would be putting up his bill, H.R. 5582, the Patients Deserve Price Tags, as an amendment to strengthen the underlying bill.
- Rep. Greg Landsman (R-OH-1) offered an amendment to tack on language to ensure that the data shared is transparent, accurate, and understandable. This amendment was withdrawn after Rep. Landsman acknowledged it did not have the support.
- Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-1) offered an amendment to include language from the DOC Access Act, which would promote transparency of the vision and dental benefit industry. He argued that vision benefit managers (VBMs) cause harm to patients as they do not have a choice in their eye doctor or treatment. This amendment was withdrawn.
- Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO-1) offered an amendment to include language requiring certain entities to share their ownership structures. This amendment was withdrawn following assurances from Health Subcommittee Chairman Griffith that they could talk about implementing changes.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 9397, the Premium Transparency Act (Reps. August Pfluger (R-TX-11) and Nathanial Moran (R-TX-1)), to ensure health insurer accountability through publishing of overhead costs and claim payments.
- Health Subcommittee Ranking Member DeGette highlighted that this language was already put into law within the ACA, but would still support the legislation.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 9396, the Prior Authorization Accountability Act (Rep. Craig Goldman (R-TX-12)), to require insurers to display which services were subject to prior authorization, the percentage of requests approved or denied, and the average amount of time between the request submission and determination.
- Health Subcommittee Chair Griffith, Health Subcommittee Ranking Member DeGette, and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2) spoke in support of the bill.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 9390, the Prices on the Wall Act (Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2)), to require hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and labs to post the discounted cash price in dollar amount on the wall for each service they provide.
- Rep. Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2) spoke in support of the bill, highlighting the importance of physically seeing the prices.
- Full Committee Ranking Member Pallone expressed his concern that it will cause more confusion for consumers and could deter them from care. While he acknowledged the good intent behind the bill, he explicitly raised issues with the fact that the posted prices will not be what patients actually pay and that billing codes can be unclear.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 3514, Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 (Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA-16) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA-1)), to require plans to establish, and evaluate the implementation of, an electronic prior authorization.
- Reps. John Joyce (R-PA-13), Kim Schrier (D-WA-1), Miller-Meeks, Lizzie
- Fletcher (D-TX-7), and Troy Carter (D-LA-2) spoke in support.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 9392, the Medicare Advantage Cost Transparency Act (Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO-1) and John Joyce (R-PA-13)), to require the inclusion of certain information in Medicare Advantage encounter data.
- Rep. Joyce spoke in support of the bill and emphasized the importance of including value- based contracting in this list of information to capture the full picture. He also shared the need for a uniform reporting standard so the data is comparable across plan types.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 5243, to require each Medicare Advantage plan to submit eligibility for supplemental benefits, types of benefit categories offered, and data on utilization of and payments for such benefits (Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-4)).
- This bill as amended was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.
H.R. 9395, the Transparency in Medicare Advantage Steering Act (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY14)), to require Medicare Advantage organizations to share the amount and form of compensation paid to an agent or broker, along with the total amount of compensation paid to agents and brokers.
- This bill was forwarded to the full committee following a voice vote.