Consumers, Workers, Employers, and Providers Urge Senate to Hold Hearing on Health Care Affordability

Families USA led nearly 50 partners in a letter calling on the Senate Finance Committee to hold an immediate hearing on the nation’s health care affordability crisis and the ways in which big health care corporations are driving up costs for working families. At a time when nearly half of all Americans report having to forgo medical care due to cost, these groups are urging the committee to take action before the August Congressional recess.

Organizations representing families, workers, providers, employers, small businesses and health care consumers together to urge the committee to discuss bipartisan solutions to address high health care costs, several of which already passed the House of Representatives in the Lower Costs, More Transparency (LCMT) Act. Those solutions include:

• Making permanent the enhanced Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTCs), which are currently set to expire at the end of 2025. This would provide families with critical support and financial stability when they purchase health coverage through the health insurance marketplaces.
• Enacting site neutral payments for drug administration services to help ensure consumers pay the same price for the same service regardless of where they receive care.
• Requiring off-campus hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) to use a separate identifier when billing to Medicare or commercial insurers to ensure that large hospital systems do not overcharge for care delivered in outpatient settings.
• Promoting meaningful price transparency by working with other committees of jurisdiction so policymakers, researchers, employers, and consumers can finally see how irrational health care prices have become and take targeted action.