House subcommittee examines bills to increase health care price transparency
June 10, 2026 | House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House Committee, House, Legislative, Federal
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The chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce opened a subcommittee hearing to examine proposals aimed at improving health care price transparency and affordability. The chair said the committee will consider bills intended to give patients clearer upfront information about medical costs and to strengthen data used by regulators and consumers.
The chair framed the work as building on earlier regulatory steps and administrative initiatives, saying that “EMPOWERING AMERICANS WITH BETTER INFORMATION AND TRANSPARENCY DATA REMAINS A CRITICAL STEP TOWARD A MORE EFFICIENT, ACCOUNTABLE, AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE LANDSCAPE.” The statement stressed that clearer price information can help patients compare options, seek higher-value care and avoid unexpected medical bills.
Among the measures the subcommittee previewed was an updated version of the Lower Cost More Transparency Act, which the chair said was led previously by former Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and passed the House in 2023. According to the chair, that bill is designed to expand price transparency requirements across hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, clinical laboratories and imaging providers.
The chair also discussed proposals to increase the authority of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve price transparency and accountability. A discussion draft highlighted at the hearing would require Medicare Advantage and commercial plans to publicly post prior authorization approval and denial rates so individuals can review plan performance on claims decisions.
The hearing also introduced H.R. 5582, the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, championed by Representative John James of Michigan; the chair said the bill takes a different approach from the Lower Cost More Transparency Act but shares the goal of bringing more transparency into the marketplace. The chair reiterated the subcommittee’s commitment to lowering health care costs and thanked the witnesses for participating.
No formal motions or recorded votes appear in the provided transcript excerpt. The hearing’s next procedural steps and any formal markups or votes were not specified in the excerpt.
The chair framed the work as building on earlier regulatory steps and administrative initiatives, saying that “EMPOWERING AMERICANS WITH BETTER INFORMATION AND TRANSPARENCY DATA REMAINS A CRITICAL STEP TOWARD A MORE EFFICIENT, ACCOUNTABLE, AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE LANDSCAPE.” The statement stressed that clearer price information can help patients compare options, seek higher-value care and avoid unexpected medical bills.
Among the measures the subcommittee previewed was an updated version of the Lower Cost More Transparency Act, which the chair said was led previously by former Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and passed the House in 2023. According to the chair, that bill is designed to expand price transparency requirements across hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, clinical laboratories and imaging providers.
The chair also discussed proposals to increase the authority of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve price transparency and accountability. A discussion draft highlighted at the hearing would require Medicare Advantage and commercial plans to publicly post prior authorization approval and denial rates so individuals can review plan performance on claims decisions.
The hearing also introduced H.R. 5582, the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, championed by Representative John James of Michigan; the chair said the bill takes a different approach from the Lower Cost More Transparency Act but shares the goal of bringing more transparency into the marketplace. The chair reiterated the subcommittee’s commitment to lowering health care costs and thanked the witnesses for participating.
No formal motions or recorded votes appear in the provided transcript excerpt. The hearing’s next procedural steps and any formal markups or votes were not specified in the excerpt.
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