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Every day, Americans walk into a hospital without any idea what they’ll owe when they walk out. In my home state of Kansas, a mammogram costs $70 at one hospital and $800 at another. One hundred million Americans are drowning in medical debt, and we’re spending $5 trillion a year on a system that still won’t tell patients what anything costs until the bill arrives.
At the State of the Union, legislators heard a call to action from our commander in chief. President Donald Trump put it plainly about his “great health care plan.” “[M]y plan requires maximum price transparency.” He’s right – it is simple. We have a plan to fix it, and now is the time to seize the moment.
That’s exactly what our “Patients Deserve Price Tags” bill is designed to do. It makes hospitals, surgery centers, imaging centers and labs post their actual prices – real dollars and cents – before a patient ever walks through the door. No more blank checks. No more guessing. It turns patients back into consumers, and that matters more than people realize.
Healthcare is the only industry in America where we’ve stripped out consumerism entirely – where we’ve decided that you don’t get to know the price before you buy. Every other market in America works the same way: when consumers can shop, and providers have to compete, prices come down. Every single time. There is no reason health care should be any different.
The numbers tell the story. Even though there’s been a federal price transparency rule for more than four years, only about 15% of hospitals are posting prices. At one hospital in Kansas, a cervical spinal fusion can run anywhere from $650 to more than $26,000.
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And most hospitals, about three out of four, hide their prices in complicated algorithms that only a contract expert could understand. But here’s what happens when you finally let people see the prices: they shop. Experts estimate that price transparency would save up to $1 trillion – $1,000 a month for the average American family.
And here’s what makes this moment truly special – this isn’t a partisan fight. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act has 18 Senate co-sponsors, Republicans and Democrats alike. Patient advocacy groups, employer coalitions, and families across the country are behind it. Nine in 10 Americans support price transparency regardless of party. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said, “If America truly wants to make life affordable again, healthcare transparency is where we start.”
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Washington doesn’t agree on much these days, but on this, we do. When the White House, Congress, and the American people are all pointing in the same direction, there’s no excuse not to move.
Trump made the call from the biggest stage in America. The legislation is written. The coalition is built. The only thing left to do is finish the job. Don’t let Washington lobbyists stop this any longer. Pass the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act and give Americans what they have always deserved – a price tag before the bill.
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