Third Way Statement on Recent Legislation to Lower Health Care Prices

WASHINGTON – Third Way issued the following statement from Gabe Horwitz, Senior Vice President for the Economic Program:

“It’s time for medical prices to reflect the value of care being provided, not the location of that care. That’s why we applaud Senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) for the introduction of the Site-based Invoicing and Transparency Enhancement (SITE) Act in the 118th Congress.

“Hospitals have been padding bills for years with add-on “facility fees” for outpatient services, causing prices to skyrocket. One key way to lower costs is to tie prices to value rather than who owns the location of the service. The SITE Act would do just that by vastly expanding Medicare’s site-neutrality requirements and installing transparency requirements for the site of service in bills issued by hospitals. This legislation would produce billions in savings for patients and taxpayers, and reinvest some of those savings into a national nurse training program.

“Third Way has been a proud supporter of legislation that would bring payments for health care services towards site neutrality in order to lower costs for patients. Recent legislation passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee would accomplish this for outpatient drugs in Medicare. Additionally, the Facilitating Accountability in Reimbursements Act (FAIR Act) by Representatives Kevin Hern (R-OK) and Annie Kuster (D-NH) would enact transparency requirements in hospital billing. We urge Congress to take up these measures to combat rising health care costs.”