The information comes from Patient Rights Advocate (PRA), which says President Donald Trump called for price transparency in an executive order during his first term in office. The purpose of the order was to increase competition between hospitals and, more importantly, to make healthcare more affordable.
Cynthia Fisher is the founder and chair of PRA. She spoke to AFN about hospitals that are skirting around the transparency order.
"Four and a half years after the federal healthcare price transparency rule took effect, hospitals and insurers continue to flout the law," says Fisher.
The executive order from President Trump was in 2019.
Some of PRA's findings from 2,000 hospitals nationwide include:
--43% of hospitals are posting fewer prices now than last year.
--236 hospitals failed to post any prices in actual dollars and cents for consumers.
--1,501 (75%) posted algorithms that require interpretation by a contract expert.
--1,000 (50%) posted algorithms that are unquantifiable due to ambiguity or missing information.
Fisher believes that this is happening because of money.
"Insurance companies and hospitals both make money off of the prices being as high as they can negotiate them," reveals Fisher. "They don't make more money if they negotiate the prices down."
Fisher also points to polls that show 96% of Americans support price transparency. As a result of this, and similar executive order from President Trump in February 2025 that calls for transparency, Fisher is optimistic something can be done.
"Families have the right to have prices up front, itemized bills to see if they matched those prices, and the payment and claims information to make sure they were not overcharged, erroneously charged, or fraudulently billed," says Fisher.
