House of Representatives Advances Bipartisan Healthcare Reform Legislation

This week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5378, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. This bipartisan omnibus legislation contains provisions from more than 20 different bills and addresses health cost transparency, the cost of prescription drugs by lowering out-of-pocket costs for seniors at hospital-owned outpatient facilities and expanding access to generic drugs, among other provisions.  

The American Society of Anesthesiologists is paying close attention to Section 105 of the bill, which introduces new price transparency requirements for group health plans. These provisions would require insurers to make price information available publicly, including in-network negotiated rates and out-of-network allowed amounts. These new price transparency requirements would help hold insurers accountable for unreasonable qualifying payments amounts suggested by some payers in No Surprises Act dispute resolution processes.  

The American Society of Anesthesiologists is closely following H.R. 5378 as it advances through Congress. ASA remains committed to improving the No Surprises Act (NSA) and its implementation, with a focus on fixing the unreasonable qualifying payment amounts. Read more about ongoing NSA issues here.