Bipartisan Support from Congressional Leaders for Proposed OPPS Rule

The Biden Administration’s proposed OPPS rule to strengthen hospital price transparency has received support from a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders. The bipartisan heads of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), submitted a public comment stating:

We support the Administration’s proposed rule to significantly increase potential penalties on noncompliant hospitals. We also applaud the agency’s commitment to increasing price transparency and empowering consumers and employers to make informed decisions about their health care with meaningful and actionable information about health care prices.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) also submitted a public comment supporting the price transparency measures in the OPPS rule, writing:

I am fully committed to helping consumers better understand providers’ health care prices and I support the consideration of new policies to enforce and improve the existing transparency requirements. I strongly encourage the Administration to consider he steps described in order to advance our shared goal of improving price transparency for American patients.

Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) also wrote a bipartisan public comment in support. They write:

It is clear that the current $300 per day civil monetary penalty threshold was not sufficient to hold hospitals accountable for complying with the transparency agreements. For that reason, we commend CMS’s recent proposal to increase the civil monetary threshold for noncompliant hospitals.

Read Reps. Pallone and McMorris Rodgers’ comment HERE.
Read Sen. Wyden’s comment HERE.
Read Sens. Braun and Hassan’s comment HERE.
Read PRA’s public comment HERE.