President Trump Signs Executive Order Mandating Hospitals to Disclose Actual Prices for Services, rather than estimates.

On February 25, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients with Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information.” This order aims to enhance healthcare price transparency, building upon initiatives from his first term.

It directs the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to, within 90 days, enforce regulations requiring hospitals and health insurers to disclose actual prices for services and items, rather than estimates.

The order also mandates the standardization of pricing information to facilitate easy comparisons across providers and insurers, and calls for updated enforcement policies to ensure compliance.

In Panacea’s new Podcast titled, “Beyond the Bottom Line,”  Kevin Chmura, CEO of Panacea Healthcare Solutions and our host, is joined by guest Govi Goyal, President of Panacea’s Financial Services Division, to discuss this new enforcement to Hospital Price Transparency regulations.

Key Takeaways :

Price Transparency is Here to Stay
The executive order highlights the federal government’s commitment to requiring hospitals and payers to publicly disclose their actual negotiated prices for services. The goal is to improve cost clarity for consumers, increase market competition, and ultimately lower healthcare costs.

Compliance and Accuracy Are Critical
Ensuring compliance with price transparency regulations is more than just meeting minimum requirements—it involves maintaining the completeness, accuracy, and accessibility of pricing data.

• Machine Readable Files (MRFs) Must Be Up to Standard
  Many hospitals have relied on historical claims data rather than direct payer contracts to determine negotiated rates. While this approach may meet some compliance requirements, it often results in inaccurate pricing information. The new emphasis on actual prices rather than estimates suggests that hospitals must revisit their data sources to ensure alignment with payer contracts.
• Good Faith Estimates (GFEs) Could See Stronger Enforcement
  The No Surprises Act originally required hospitals and providers to give uninsured and self-pay patients a Good Faith Estimate for scheduled services. The intended next phase would extend GFEs to insured patients, requiring coordination between hospitals, providers, and insurance payers. With the latest executive order calling for enhanced enforcement, hospitals should anticipate renewed regulatory pressure on GFE compliance.
• Enforcement is Likely to Increase
  Compliance audits have been inconsistent, and penalties for noncompliance have been relatively rare. However, with the new executive order directing regulatory agencies to strengthen enforcement measures within 90 days, hospitals and payers should expect heightened scrutiny. Organizations should conduct internal audits to confirm that their pricing data is accurate and complete before enforcement efforts ramp up.
• Defending Price Data Will Become Essential
  As price transparency efforts evolve, hospitals must be prepared to justify their pricing strategies. Increased scrutiny from regulators and consumers means that organizations will need to assess their market positioning and ensure that their pricing aligns with industry standards. This could lead to a shift in how hospitals approach their pricing strategies to maintain compliance while remaining competitive.

Expanding Transparency Beyond Hospitals
Future regulations may extend price transparency requirements beyond hospitals to include ambulatory surgical centers, imaging facilities, and other healthcare providers. Some states, like Minnesota, are already implementing broader compliance measures.

What’s Next?
With a 90-day enforcement window, hospitals and payers should take immediate action to validate and refine their pricing data. Additional changes to Good Faith Estimate regulations may also be forthcoming, affecting how healthcare providers communicate pricing to insured patients.

Visit Panacea’s hospital price transparency webpage to learn about our solutions.