Towards healthcare transparency

Health Affairs published a piece that promotes transparency in healthcare pricing, describes efforts to increase it, and offers ideas on how to further the cause. Some previous state-level efforts include requiring hospitals to publish prices and collecting claims data in what are known as all-payer claims databases.

The piece notes that an increasing number of states appear to be moving towards the creation of all-payer claims databases and suggests that the federal government could reduce the overall friction in data collection by creating a common standard. The piece ends by noting that while investments in all-payer claims databases might yield substantial benefits, it might take a while before states begin to see those benefits.