Fact Sheet - President Donald J. Trump is Putting American Patients First by Making Healthcare More Transparent

IMPROVING PRICE AND QUALITY TRANSPARENCY: President Donald J. Trump is delivering on his promise to bring more healthcare price and quality transparency for American patients.

• President Trump is signing an Executive Order that directs his Administration to take steps to improve price and quality transparency in healthcare.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will require hospitals to publicly disclose amounts that reflect what people actually pay for services in an easy-to-read format.
• At President Trump's direction, HHS will begin the process of making information on out-of-pocket spending more readily available to patients before they receive care.
• Researchers, innovators, and providers will get more access to data that will help them develop tools to provide patients with more information about healthcare prices and quality.
• The Administration will improve quality measurements and make them public.
• The President's order also improves consumers' incentives to shop for care by expanding the benefit of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and other tax-preferred health accounts.

EMPOWERING PATIENTS WITH INFORMATION: Our healthcare system has long hid the true cost of care, keeping critical information from patients' hands and limiting competition.

• For too long, powerful interests have blocked patients from knowing the true price and quality of healthcare, denying them the information they need to make informed choices.
• Lack of transparency contributes to soaring costs, suppressed competition, and lower quality.
• Patients face wide variations in prices, often for the same services, due to a lack of transparency.
• When armed with accurate information, patients can often identify savings by shopping around for healthcare services.
• Publicizing the true prices of healthcare services will allow Americans to make choices that fit their personal healthcare needs and financial situations.
• Price and quality transparency will promote increased competition among healthcare providers, leading to better value and more innovative healthcare.

INCREASING TRANSPARENCY TO LOWER COSTS: President Trump is working to lower healthcare costs by improving transparency and promoting competition.

• The President signed legislation to end "gag" clauses that prevented pharmacists from letting patients know about potentially lower prices for drugs.
• Recently, the Trump Administration took action to require drug manufacturers to publicly disclose drug prices in their television ads.
• The President has taken action to empower consumers and expand affordable options like Health Reimbursement Arrangements, short-term plans, and Association Health Plans.
• In 2018, President Trump launched a blueprint on ways to drive down drug prices and find savings for American patients.
  • After the President announced the blueprint, more than a dozen major drug makers enacted price freezes, reductions, or rollbacks.
  • Last year, prescription drug prices decreased for the first time in nearly 50 years.