MICHAEL BRADY November 19, 2019
CMS Administrator
Seema Verma on Tuesday criticized hospitals and insurers for opposing the Trump
administration's efforts to increase price transparency, saying they want to
maintain the status quo even if it's not in patients' best interests.
Verma took
providers and payers to task for getting in the way of new policies that she
believes would improve healthcare quality, improve access to care and slash
healthcare spending over the long run. People that oppose the Trump
administration's efforts on price transparency like the status quo but that's
not fair to patients, she said.
"The status
quo works for (hospitals and insurers) by hiding prices and they take advantage
of that," Verma said during an interview at the U.S. News Healthcare of
Tomorrow conference in Washington. "It's not about the consumer. It's not
about patients."
Her comments came
in the wake of industry pushback to recently finalized and proposed rules that force hospitals to
open their books and reveal their negotiated rates with insurers and
another that makes insurers give enrollees information about prices and
cost-sharing before they receive treatment.
Hospitals and
insurers say that the measures will create more administrative work for them
without helping patients or decreasing healthcare spending. But the Trump
administration and several healthcare experts think hospitals and insurers are
just looking out for themselves and their financial interests.
"These
special interest groups are interested in doing things the same old way,"
Verma said.
Verma also chided
hospitals for going after patients that can't afford to pay their medical
bills, especially those without insurance.
"Not-for-profit
hospitals are taking people to court over prices they would never charge
anybody else," Verma said.
Most people are
frustrated with high healthcare costs, surprise billing and expensive drug
prices. That's led to calls for more government intervention in the healthcare
system, including Medicare-for-All plans that would fundamentally change the
U.S. healthcare system, Verma said. She doesn't think that's the right way to
go, but she understands the sentiment.
"Now there
are people who are calling for the complete abolishment of the insurance
industry," she said. "We should be listening. People are frustrated
and they want change.
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