New laws are increasing price transparency in health care. Here's what they mean for you.

Health care is one of the most burdensome expenses saddled on Americans. Half of adults in the U.S. report struggling to afford health care, and about the same portion says a $500 medical expense would push them into debt. A quarter of adults put off getting the care they need because of that financial cost, according to surveys from KFF, the organization formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.

What's more, being insured often isn't enough to soften the blow. The majority of people in medical debt today actually have health insurance, medical billing analysts report.

Workers and employers have seen their costs for health insurance plans rise significantly since the pandemic began in 2020, a trend that had already been playing out long before. Costs are projected to rise another 6.5% in 2024, according to benefits consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. Rising drug costs, a growing elderly population, pent-up demand post-pandemic, shortages of care workers, and expensive technologies all factor into the increasing expense of health care.

A slew of new rules has been signed into law in the last several years to help Americans, as well as the publicly funded Medicare and Medicaid programs, save money on health care expenses. Broadly, the new laws pertain to prescription costs, price negotiations, surprise billing, and cost transparency. These measures have largely been championed by politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Care Better analyzed information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and major hospital systems to compile this explanation of what Americans can expect from new health care cost transparency laws.

The Trump administration previously enacted rules through executive order requiring hospitals to publicly post the costs of certain services online and another that requires health insurers to share the costs of services covered under their health care plans, which was rolled out in phases under the Biden administration.

A study from the University of Minnesota published in 2023 estimated that price transparency rules for health plans alone could lead to "substantial savings," potentially in the tens of billions of dollars, benefiting consumers, employers, and even insurers.

The most recent effort to boost health care transparency is making its way through Congress this winter. It's H.R. 5378, nicknamed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. The resolution was voted through the House of Representatives in December and now awaits consideration from the Senate.

The bill is an amalgamation of many existing draft bills championed by Republican and Democratic Congress members who argue the new resolution will empower consumers to make informed decisions related to their health care, lower drug costs, and end overcharging for services by hospitals. It would build on previous transparency measures enacted prior to the pandemic. Health care executives and for-profit hospitals have been critics of the legislation, arguing the changes to Medicare reimbursements will hurt hospitals, particularly those in rural areas where consumers have few other options for care.

Read on to learn more about the changes that could be coming if the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act becomes law.