S. 4106Senate116th Congress (2019-2021)In Committee

Health Care PRICE Transparency Act

Sponsored by Mike BraunSen. Mike Braun (R-IN)
Introduced June 30, 2020

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 14, 2026 at 1:21 PM UTC

The Health Care PRICE Transparency Act would change federal law so that hospitals and health‑insurance plans must publicly share detailed price information. Hospitals would have to post a list of their standard charges in a machine‑readable format (such as open APIs), and insurers would have to disclose the rates they negotiate with providers, including out‑of‑network payments. The goal is to give consumers clearer, comparable cost data before they receive care.

Key Provisions

  • Hospitals must publish a list of "standard charges"—including chargemaster rates, negotiated rates, discounted cash prices, and other rates—online in a machine‑readable format and via open APIs.
  • The term “standard charges” is defined to cover all rates hospitals charge for items and services, regardless of payer or plan.
  • Hospitals that fail to provide the required information can be fined up to $300 per day until they comply.
  • Health‑insurance plans must disclose, in a machine‑readable format and free of charge, the specific negotiated payment rates for all covered items and services, as well as aggregate out‑of‑network payments made on behalf of enrollees.
  • The Secretary of Health and Human Services must set standards for electronic delivery of this information through websites and open APIs.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action
SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

June 30, 2020

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

June 30, 2020

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

June 30, 2020

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about S. 4106 on the floor

1 Republican
Michael B. Enzi
Sen. Michael B. EnziR-WY · Jun 26, 2019

Mr. President, I wish submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for June 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the…

Michael B. Enzi
Sen. Michael B. EnziR-WY · Feb 27, 2019

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for February 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to…

Michael B. Enzi
Sen. Michael B. EnziR-WY · Apr 10, 2019

Mr. President, I rise to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for April 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in…

Michael B. Enzi
Sen. Michael B. EnziR-WY · Jan 10, 2019

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for January 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in…

Michael B. Enzi
Sen. Michael B. EnziR-WY · May 22, 2019

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for May 2019. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the…

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued June 30, 2020

II

116th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 4106

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 30, 2020

Mr. Braun (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Enzi, Ms. Ernst, and Mr. Barrasso) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for hospital and insurer price transparency.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Health Care Prices Revealed and Information to Consumers Explained Transparency Act or the Health Care PRICE Transparency Act.

2.

Price transparency requirements

(a)

Hospitals

Section 2718(e) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. § 300gg–18(e)) is amended—

(1)

by striking Each hospital and inserting the following:

(1)

In general

Each hospital

;

(2)

by inserting , in a machine-readable format, via open application program interfaces (APIs) after a list;

(3)

by inserting , along with such additional information as the Secretary may require with respect to such charges for purposes of promoting public awareness of hospital pricing in advance of receiving a hospital item or service before the period; and

(4)

by adding at the end the following:

(2)

Definition of standard charges

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of paragraph (1), the term standard charges means the rates hospitals, including providers or entities that contract with or practice at a hospital, charge for all items and services at a minimum, chargemaster rates, rates that hospitals negotiate with third party payers across all plans, including those related to a patient’s specific plan, discounted cash prices, and other rates determined by the Secretary.

(3)

Enforcement

In addition to any other enforcement actions or penalties that may apply under subsection (b)(3) or another provision of law, a hospital that fails to provide the information required by this subsection and has not completed a corrective action plan to comply with the requirements of such subsection shall be subject to a civil monetary penalty of an amount not to exceed $300 per day that the violation is ongoing as determined by the Secretary. Such penalty shall be imposed and collected in the same manner as civil money penalties under subsection (a) of section 1128A of the Social Security Act are imposed and collected.

.

(b)

Transparency in coverage

Section 1311(e)(3) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(e)(3)) is amended—

(1)

in subparagraph (A)—

(A)

in clause (vii), by inserting before the period the following: , including, for all items and services covered under the plan, aggregate information on specific payments the plan has made to out-of-network health care providers on behalf of plan enrollees; and

(B)

by designating clause (ix) as clause (x); and

(C)

by inserting after clause (viii), the following:

(ix)

Information on the specific negotiated payment rates between the plan and health care providers for all items and services covered under the plan.

;

(2)

in subparagraph (B)—

(A)

in the heading, by striking use and inserting delivery methods and use;

(B)

by inserting , as applicable, after English proficiency; and

(C)

by inserting after the second sentence, the following: The Secretary shall establish standards for electronic delivery and access to such information by individuals, free of charge, in machine readable format, through an internet website and via open APIs.;

(3)

in subparagraph (C)—

(A)

in the first sentence, by inserting or out-of-network provider after item or service by a participating provider;

(B)

in the second sentence, by striking through an internet website and inserting free of charge, in machine readable format, through an internet website, and via open APIs, in accordance with standards established by the Secretary,; and

(C)

by adding at the end the following: Such information shall include specific negotiated rates that allow for comparison between providers and across plans, and related to a patient’s specific plan, including after an enrollee has exceeded their deductible responsibility.; and

(4)

in subparagraph (D) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).