MONIQUE YOHANAN: Real Transparency Requires Enforcement. Patients Deserve Price Tags Act Finally Provides It.

Fifteen years ago, Congress promised Americans price transparency in healthcare. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) required hospitals and insurers to make their prices public. That promise was never fulfilled. Hospitals posted partial or unusable information. Insurers buried their pricing files in formats no patient or employer could interpret. Enforcement was minimal, and the public remained exactly where it began — unable to know what care would cost before receiving it. Transparency without enforcement is optional, and optional transparency simply does not occur.