Disclosure of negotiated rates

The president recently signed an executive order to advance the disclosure of healthcare pricing. Details still need to be worked out, but this order seems to be an extension of a previous order mandating that hospitals post their list prices online. This order seems to mandate disclosure of prices that have been negotiated between hospitals and insurers, which would give patients a more accurate picture of the charges.

So far, I have not read too much of the effects of the previous executive order. It could be that the it takes time for the publication of list prices to have some effect, or it could be that the publication is difficult enough for consumers to find and understand and insufficiently related to out-of-pocket costs that they will not have much effect. This executive order seems like it would certainly be a step in the right direction. Even better would be mandating pricing disclosures at physician offices, where a substantial portion of non-emergency care takes place.