WASHINGTON — In a bipartisan vote on Monday, the House passed a bill championed by a Spokane Republican that aims to increase transparency in health care pricing and ultimately reduce medical costs.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sponsored the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act along with her Democratic counterpart on the committee, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, and the top Republicans on two other panels.
“It will affect patients and families, businesses, because they will know the true cost of care and they’ll be able to shop around for the best deal and make the decisions that are best for themselves and their families,” McMorris Rodgers said in an interview, adding that more transparency will drive down the cost of health care.
The legislation requires hospitals and other health care providers to publish their prices. It also bars pharmacy benefit managers — third-party companies that negotiate prescription drug prices — from a practice called “spread pricing” in Medicaid, whereby they charge more than they pay for a medication and pocket the difference.
The bill passed by a vote of 320-71 under suspension of the rules, a procedural move that speeds passage but requires a two-thirds majority. Reps. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho Falls; Suzan DelBene, D-Medina; and Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland, opposed the bill, while all other Northwest lawmakers voted for it.
The American Hospital Association opposed the bill, objecting to a provision for “site-neutral” pricing that limits providers’ ability to charge different prices for a service based on where it takes place.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where improving transparency in health care pricing and reining in pharmacy benefit managers have bipartisan support. But senators have their own proposals for addressing those issues, and it’s unclear if lawmakers in the two chambers can work out their differences at a time when rising polarization makes bipartisan problem solving a rarity.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat who chairs the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has introduced her own bill targeting pharmacy benefit managers, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mike Crapo of Idaho — the top Democrat and Republican, respectively, on the Senate Finance Committee — have introduced a separate bill aimed at holding the middlemen accountable.
McMorris Rodgers said she has spoken with Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the top Republican on the Senate Health Committee, and has scheduled a meeting with that panel’s chair, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. The two men have introduced their own pharmacy benefit manager bill, which also has the support of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
“Bottom line, there’s a lot of work that’s been done in the House and the Senate,” McMorris Rodgers said. “This has been a top priority of mine as the chair of Energy and Commerce. I believe that transparency is fundamental to driving down the cost of health care in America.”
Orion Donovan Smith’s work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.
