For decades the negotiated prices between health care providers, insurance carriers, and networks have been tightly-guarded trade secrets. That's quickly changing.
Health care price transparency is now bipartisan-supported law. Gag clauses have been banned. Starting in January 2021 hospitals were subject to new rules requiring disclosure of the payment rates they receive from health plans to both consumers and the general public. So far, compliance has been mixed. Similar rules for payers become effective later in 2022 and 2023 for health plans and consumers.
While entrenched interests are doing their best to stall transparency, unless the laws change, transparency is going to happen and will rock the commercial health insurance market, providing the long awaited opportunity for meaningful health care cost reductions.
Learn more about price transparency laws and regulations, examine rocky implementation to-date, and discuss the role of self-insured employers in leading the market changes that will emerge from price transparency.
By attending this session, you will be able to:
Name the applicable price transparency laws and rules.
See transparency as more than a list of new compliance requirements and consumer tools.
Anticipate that the downstream impacts of transparency on commercial health insurance will be profound.
Appreciate the increased power of self-insured employers.