Why U.S. Healthcare Pricing Transparency Laws Will Fail Without Real Penalties

By CHINELO GRACE CHIGOZIE The U.S. has a healthcare cost problem that everyone knows about but no one talks about openly. For decades, the same medical treatment has cost very different amounts. Hospitals down the street from each other might charge five times more or less for the exact same thing. Patients couldn’t find out the real costs ahead of time. Even many insurance companies didn’t know the actual rates. Two recent laws tried to fix this problem. The Hospital Price Transparency Rule came into effect in 2021. The No Surprises Act came into effect in 2022. These laws have two mai