CMS finalizes insurer transparency rule

The Trump administration on Thursday issued its final rule requiring nearly all health insurers and self-insured plans to disclose pricing and cost-sharing information.

The Transparency in Coverage rule will force employer health plans and insurance companies to post in-network and out-of-network rates they negotiate with providers. It also requires insurers to develop online price transparency tools to give patients cost-sharing information. Insurers and hospital groups and even some experts argued it would confuse patients and do little to lower costs.

“Disclosing privately negotiated rates will reduce incentives to offer lower rates, creating a floor—not a ceiling—for the prices that drug makers, providers and device makers would be willing to accept,” America’s Health Insurance Plans CEO Matt Eyles said in a statement.

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