House Ways & Means Committee Chair Smith: Fitzpatrick Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Transparency in Health Insurance Pricing

WASHINGTON, July 27 -- Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, issued the following news release:

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, introduced the Health Insurance Price Transparency Act of 2023 and was joined by Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03). Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) also supports Congressman Fitzpatrick's bipartisan legislation which is included in the Committee's mark up of H.R. 4822.

"All Americans have the right to know the cost of their healthcare services, and my bipartisan bill helps to achieve that by helping patients make better informed decisions surrounding their health insurance," said Congressman Fitzpatrick. "The Health Insurance Price Transparency Act of 2023 provides key patient protections by promoting transparency and helping consumers better use health insurance pricing information to shop around for the best option for patients and their families, while giving patients the ability to learn and understand how much a health service will cost them. I thank Chairman Smith for his support, and I look forward to the House passing my bipartisan legislation."

"Thank you to Rep. Fitzpatrick for introducing the Health Insurance Price Transparency Act of 2023 that requires health insurance plans publish prices and provide personalized pricing information to consumers," said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Smith. "Health insurance is one of the biggest expenses for millions of American employers and their workers and coverage details are hard to come by and even harder to understand. This bill empowers small businesses and families to more easily compare health care costs and understand their benefits."

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The Health Insurance Price Transparency Act of 2023 will:

* Provide key patient protections by promoting transparency and better usability of health insurance pricing information.

* Codify an existing rule that health insurers are already complying with while strengthening transparency and reducing duplication.

* Mandate price transparency requirements via a patient-specific transparency tool.

* Implement a requirement to make machine readable files for out of network rates, in-network rates, and drug prices public.

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Read the text of the legislation HERE (https://fitzpatrick.house.gov/_cache/files/2/3/23f25eac-63c4-4f73-9e24-2e4ed1742bdc/FDA96C8C1326B7FC8CCBFEDA3B38FBF9.ways-transparency-insurance-bill.pdf).

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Original text here: https://waysandmeans.house.gov/fitzpatrick-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-to-increase-transparency-in-health-insurance-pricing/