Medicare hospital prices could soon be posted for patients

The Trump administration wants to require hospitals to post their prices online in an effort to improve transparency for patients, as health care comes into focus for the White House.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposal on Tuesday – as part of its annual updates to Medicare rules – that would call on hospitals to publish standard prices for the program online, affording patients more choices when choosing where to go for care.

While some prices are currently available for consumers to view upon request, the new standard would require providers to post them, which would then make it easier for insurers and other processors to analyze them.

The proposal also aims to increase patients’ access to their electronic health records and promote sharing of records between health care providers. Medicare would also allocate an extra $1.5 billion to hospitals as padding to care for patients who can’t afford treatment.

CMS administrator Seema Verma said the regulations are part of an effort to make sure patients are put first in health care. The agency said the proposal would eliminate 25 measures, saving hospital providers $75 million.

In fiscal year 2017, CMS estimated that federal spending on the program would total more than $709 billion, with 58 million individuals receiving insurance.

President Trump was expected to address drug prices in a speech on Thursday, however the White House announced over the weekend that the speech would be postponed until an undisclosed date. Lowering the cost of prescription drugs was one of his main campaign promises.