Bobby Jindal And Charlie Katebi
Time to put an end to several Biden administration ‘patient-last’ policies
After years of crushing inflation, “woke” priorities and bureaucratic overregulation, Donald Trump and the Republican Party achieved a resounding victory in November. Part of that victory was built upon his promise to challenge the status quo in our healthcare system and to “make America healthy again.” The first step? Ending patient-last policies in Medicare, Medicaid, drug pricing and health insurance that prioritize the health of the healthcare system over the health of patients, driving up the cost of care at the expense of patients and taxpayers.
Healthcare is the only market where customers discover the price after consuming a good or service, and these surprising costs are contributing to crushing medical debt. It doesn’t have to be this way. The first Trump administration instituted sweeping changes for patients to protect their right to know their healthcare prices, but the Biden administration caved to big DC interests and hasn’t properly enforced them. This has allowed patient-last practices to flourish; for example, the price of a routine colonoscopy in Wisconsin varies from $88 to $1,940, but a patient doesn’t find out what they’re paying until after the procedure is done and is unable to find the right provider at the right price. It’s not just patients who don’t know the price ahead of time — the employers and unions writing the check for the care are often blocked from getting an itemized receipt of the drugs and treatments that they paid for, which keeps them from being able to negotiate down the costs. Policymakers should ensure that these price transparency rules are enforced and made permanent, making it easier and cheaper to get healthy.
