FIRST ON FOX: A nonprofit patient rights advocacy group is urging President Donald Trump to take immediate action to enhance price transparency of healthcare costs as the White House weighs a new healthcare proposal.
PatientsRightsAdvocate.org, (PRA), a nonpartisan group focused on enhancing systemwide healthcare price transparency and quality, is calling on the Trump administration to take steps to improve on informing patients what their healthcare services will cost as the White House prepares to unveil a new healthcare proposal.
"You recently articulated a compelling vision: Americans, not insurance companies, should be in control of their healthcare dollars," PRA founder Cynthia Fisher wrote in a letter to Trump Tuesday. "Empowering people directly is the most effective way to restore fairness, choice, and accountability to a system that has too long served corporate interests instead of the American people."
Specifically, Fisher urged Trump to take steps through the Department of Labor to ensure that employers that provide healthcare receive full access to claims, payments to providers and a rundown of fees so they can facilitate lower costs that result in lower fees for their employees.
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Likewise, she encouraged Trump to back the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act spearheaded by senators Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. The measure would require hospitals to provide the actual prices of approximately 300 services and would require providers or facilities to craft a detailed itemized bill of each separate item or service.
"By doing this, you will deliver a system in which patients, employers, and unions - not the insurance and private equity fat cats - hold the power," Fisher wrote in her letter.
These efforts would build on previous actions from the Trump administration, Fisher said.
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For example, Trump signed an executive order in February ordering the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services departments to enforce transparency regulations, which would require hospitals and insurers to share the actual prices of healthcare, rather than estimates. Additionally, the order requires the agencies to require hospitals to work toward making healthcare prices more uniform across hospitals and insurers.
It remains unclear when Trump will release his healthcare proposal. Media reports indicated that the plan could be released as early as Monday, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not give any indication on the timeline. She told reporters Monday the issue is a priority for the president.
The potential healthcare plan comes as Republicans grapple with extending Affordable Care Act subsidies about to expire at the end of 2025. The issue was a sticking point in funding negotiations that led to the government shutdown in October.
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Although Democrats refused for weeks to back a measure without a provision to permanently extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, they eventually got behind a short-term spending bill that does not extend these subsidies by the end of the year.
Even so, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to a vote in December on legislation that would continue these credits.
Regardless, Americans want more precise information on their healthcare costs. According to a September poll from Echelon Insights, a Republican-leaning poll and data firm, nearly 90% of U.S. voters support enforcing regulations that would require hospitals and insurance companies to provide the exact prices from the get-go.
"The data I've seen is crystal clear: If President Trump executes on this affordability action by forcing hospitals and insurers to reveal actual prices upfront, the American people will overwhelmingly support it," David Kochel, a Republican campaign strategist, said in a statement to Fox News Digital Monday. "This isn't just good policy, but a potential game-changer heading into 2026 and beyond. By tackling one of the clearest pain points in surprise medical bills and hiding pricing, Republicans can shift the narrative on healthcare, win back trust and deliver real results that voters can feel."
