Patient Advocacy Groups Show Support for Trump in Fight to Uphold Healthcare Price Transparency Rule
PatientRightsAdvocate.org, Independent Women's Law Center, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Association of Mature American Citizens, and Free2Care File Amicus Brief on Behalf of Patients
August 25, 2020 – On Friday, on behalf of the overwhelming majority of Americans who want healthcare price transparency now, several patient advocacy groups joined together to jointly submit an Amicus Brief in support of upholding the summary judgment in American Hospital Association (AHA), et. al., v. Azar.
Hospitals are suing President Trump and his administration to stop a rule that requires them to disclose their discounted cash prices and negotiated rates in a clear, easy-to-access format. While earlier this summer a federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s rule, the move by a cohort of hospitals to continue to try and block the requirement, which is set to go into effect January 2021, is a clear sign the fight for healthcare price transparency is far from over.
In the brief, filed by counsel Jeffrey Harris, a partner with Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, in Arlington, Virginia, Amici show that the Final Rule will unleash the significant competitive benefits of price transparency. They also argue Appellants’ challenges to the rationale for, and scope of, the Final Rule should be rejected, and that price disclosure requirements have long been tied to government consumer protection interests and do not violate Appellants’ First Amendment rights.
“The rule being challenged here merely ensures that hospitals, like businesses in every other sector of the economy, disclose their prices upfront in advance of patients committing to a transaction,” Harris said. “This rule is eminently reasonable as a matter of policy and is consistent with all statutory and constitutional requirements. We are optimistic that the D.C. Circuit will affirm Judge Nichols’ well-reasoned decision.”
“In the middle of a health crisis, hospitals are fighting to continue to hide their prices,” said PatientRightsAdvocate.org Founder and Chairman Cynthia A. Fisher. "Healthcare price transparency is critical to protect patients from outrageous price gouging and overcharging. It allows consumers to be control of their health and financial decisions. Overwhelmingly, Americans want a functional, competitive, free market in healthcare so they can begin benefitting from competition and shop for quality and price.”
According to a Harvard-Harris poll, a bipartisan 88 percent of Americans support government mandates for hospitals and insurance companies to show their prices. In a separate poll, 98 percent of women under the age of 40 said they supported transparency in healthcare prices.
The AHA and a consortium of other hospital groups filed suit against HHS in December 2019 to stop the Trump Administration's price transparency rule requiring hospitals to disclose discounted cash prices and negotiated rates, and to publicly reveal how they calculate those rates.
The hospital lobby maintains that HHS exceeded its statutory authority under the Administrative Procedure Act and violated the First Amendment by mandating speech in a manner that fails to directly advance a substantial government interest. However, no court has ever invoked the First Amendment to invalidate government efforts to provide truthful, accurate information to consumers about marketplace transactions.
On June 23, a federal judge dismissed the challenge by the hospitals. The hospitals are now challenging that ruling.
According to studies conducted at Vanderbilt University, cash prices across the country are 39 percent lower than insurance negotiated rates within the same facilities.
“The Trump Administration rules empower Americans to know healthcare prices,” said Fisher. “Consumers shopping for quality and price will benefit from competition, reducing the costs of both care and coverage. What consumer wouldn’t want to save nearly 40 percent for the same exact quality of care? These rules provide the much-needed financial certainty and give consumers control to protect their health and hard-earned dollars. They will unleash innovation and competition to greatly reduce the cost of care and coverage.”
PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA) led the coalition of transparency supporters in filing the brief, which was prepared and filed by Harris. PRA is joined on the brief by Independent Women's Law Center (IWLC), the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC), and Free2Care.
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