The Trump administration finalized a really interesting and potentially consequential policy today: Requiring insurers to tell you what your health care is actually going to cost in advance. https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Resources/Regulations-and-Guidance/Downloads/CMS-Transparency-in-Coverage-9915F.pdf">https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Res...
If you are surprised that you can& #39;t already learn these prices, perhaps you haven& #39;t been to the doctor in a while. Real prices for health care services are typically kept secret from patients until the bills come. And they can range widely. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/upshot/health-care-huge-price-discrepancies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/3...
This is one of a bunch of rules the administration has finalized that aim to improve the transparency of health care prices. A similar, related rule, that asks hospitals to publish negotiated prices, is now the subject of litigation. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/upshot/hospitals-lost-price-transparency-lawsuit.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/2...
That apparently contrarian view is pretty widespread--held by the CBO and the FTC, for example.

It is the subject of one of my favorite t-shirts. https://twitter.com/sangerkatz/status/1163830456963555335?s=20">https://twitter.com/sangerkat...
If only this story also included a popcorn angle.
The rule gives insurers a few years to comply. The kind of consumer tools it asks them to develop seem non-trivial to build. They will need to publish all their negotiated prices and provide individual customers with cost sharing estimates.
The hospital price rule, by contrast, goes into effect in January, assuming the courts don& #39;t stop it.
One last thought: Unlike a lot of Trump health policies, this one doesn& #39;t strike me as particularly partisan. The disagreements about it don& #39;t fall along obvious ideological lines.
Ok, I lied. More thoughts: This rule hangs on language from the Affordable Care Act, a law that the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to eliminate. If Obamacare goes, so does the price transparency policy, along with many other things. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/upshot/trump-repeal-obamacare-innovation-authority.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/1...
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