On Friday, The Daily Signal posted an article about solving the rapidly rising cost of healthcare in America.
The article reports:
Americans grappling with affordability just got a helpful boost from the Trump administration, which on Friday announced a new push to reduce health care costs.
The move helps patients get health care prices upfront rather than astronomically high surprise bills later.
The new Transparency in Coverage (TiC) proposed rule will improve data structure, reduce unnecessary file size and increase usability. This will make transparency easier to analyze and more accessible to employers, researchers and innovators working to lower health care costs.
By receiving prices upfront in a clear, easy-to-use format, Americans can shop around for the best provider at the lowest cost—driving more competition and empowering patients. Friday’s move was announced jointly by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Labor, and Treasury Department.
President Donald Trump already fought hard in his first term to improve health care price transparency, and Friday’s announcement continues that momentum which continued in Trump’s February executive order.
In December 2020, Trump also signed the No Surprises Act, meant to provide patients detailed upfront price information about their care. But the Biden administration delayed implementing these policies, and the American people never saw the full benefit of price transparency.
Additionally, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 requires insurance companies and brokers to reveal all historical claims data and broker fees while also removing gag clauses. Hospitals must not surprise patients with bills after insurance companies refuse to pay more.
The article includes the following graph:
The article notes:
There’s a simple reason health care prices skyrocket above overall inflation: no free and fair competition. Costs for hospital services in particular have seen the highest rates of inflation among major U.S. consumer goods and services, per economist Mark J. Perry.
Notice that college tuition has also gone up faster than inflation. I think that if we could get the government out of healthcare and out of student loans, the price of healthcare and of college would go down.