Association of Independent Doctors Sends Letter to U.S. Senators Urging Passage of PRICE Transparency Act

Jul 21, 2020 at 12:07 am by pj


The Association of Independent Doctors submitted the below letter to all U.S. Senators urging them to co-sponsor the Health Care PRICE Transparency Act (S. 4106). 

 

Please co-sponsor The Health Care PRICE Transparency Act (S. 4106)

Dear (Name of Senator/Health Policy Advisor):

As the executive director of a national trade association representing America’s independent doctors and indirectly all patients, I am writing on their behalf to urgently ask you to co-sponsor The Health Care PRICE Transparency Act (S. 4106), and, further, to see that the act gets included in the next COVID-19 Phase IV stimulus bill  and passed. 

Health-care price transparency is not a partisan matter. Rather, it is a broadly bipartisan issue that repeated surveys have shown 90 percent of Americans want. When consumers can shop for health care by comparing prices, they will not only be in control of their health-care dollars, but they will also be able to avoid getting medical bills they could not foresee.

A bill requiring hospitals and insurers to publish their discounted cash prices and secret negotiated rates in an easily accessible place online would also foster price competition, which would drive down health-care costs, and boost quality and innovation. This would slow consolidation in health care as hospitals find that buying up medical practices and other hospitals to gain market share becomes less lucrative.

Furthermore, if passed, this bill would put real money into the pockets of Americans and businesses, and boost the economy while costing taxpayers nothing. (The Congressional Budget Office informally scored this bill at no cost to taxpayers.) 

In short, this health-care price transparency act would empower patients, eliminate surprise billing, usher in a competitive marketplace, lower health-care and coverage costs by 30-50%, put more money Americans’ pockets, and slow the unhealthy trend of health-care consolidation.

Some of your senate colleagues, including Senators Barrasso, Braun, Enzi, Ernst, Grassley, Kennedy, Loeffler and Perdue, support S. 4106 and its inclusion in the upcoming COVID-19 stimulus bill. Please join them.

The Association of Independent Doctors has physician members in 44 of the United States, including the great state of (STATE). We hope we can count on you to deliver what our members and all Americans want, need, and deserve.

Sincerely,

 

Marni Jameson Carey

Executive Director

Association of Independent Doctors

marni@aid-us.org,

(407) 571-9316

 

Thomas A. Thomas, C.P.A.

Thomas, Zurcher & White, P.A.
Certified Public Accountants
Founding Member Association of Independent Doctors
(407) 599-5900

tthomas@tzwcpa.com

 

Carol E. Zurcher, C.P.A.

Thomas, Zurcher & White, P.A.

Certified Public Accountants

Founding Member Association of Independent Doctors

(407)-599-5900

czurcher@tzwcpa.com