Challenges with pricing transparency data

With health insurance premiums rising faster than inflation, policymakers look at different solutions to try to tame costs. KFF Health News reported on the current administration's executive order to mandate transparency healthcare pricing. This order is reminiscent of a similar directive issued in a previous term. While that directive was considered "pretty bold," the article lists a number of problems with the rollout, including enforcement and prices for procedures not actually performed by the indicated providers (e.g. a dentist's price for a knee replacement). The chief executive of a non-profit health policy research group called pricing transparency "a critical first step," not a silver bullet.

DocSpot aspires to include pricing transparency data in its provider profiles, although the timing of that feature is unclear. Hopefully, requirements set up by the current administration will make the data easier to interpret for the benefit of patients.