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June 22, 2023
2023-1121

House Education and the Workforce Health subcommittee hearing on competition and transparency

On June 21, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, “Competition and Transparency: The Pathway Forward for a Stronger Health Care Market.” During the hearing, lawmakers heard from a panel of five witnesses representing employers, patients, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and academics.

Topics discussed at the hearing largely focused on hospital consolidation and vertically integrated PBMs. During the hearing, lawmakers and witnesses spoke favorably about policies such as site-neutral payment reform, which they argued can prevent patients and payers from paying hospital-level prices for non-hospital care, as well as “honest billing” practices, to increase transparency into hospital billing and the site of service. Lawmakers and witnesses also criticized anti-competitive PBM practices and discussed ways to increase transparency into their business, including giving plan sponsors access to more granular data.

More information is available here.

Additional information is available in the attached Tax Alert.

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Contact Information
For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:
 
Washington Council Ernst & Young
   • Heather Meade (heather.meade@ey.com)
   • Heather Bell (heather.bell@ey.com)

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Hearing on competition and transparency