Lower Costs, More Transparency Act
Latest action. Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Lower Costs, More Transparency Act
This bill requires health care providers and insurers to disclose certain information about health care costs. It also establishes requirements for certain payment methodologies under Medicare and Medicaid and extends several public health programs.
For example, the bill provides statutory authority for regulations that require hospitals to annually publish their prices and related information, including the discounted cash price and negotiated charges. The bill also specifically extends these requirements to clinical laboratories, imaging service providers, and ambulatory surgical centers that participate in Medicare. Additionally, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) must semiannually report to health plan sponsors certain information on spending, rebates, and fees that are associated with covered drugs. Contracts with PBMs for employer-sponsored health plans must also allow health plan fiduciaries to audit certain claims and cost information without undue restrictions.
In addition, the bill requires pass-through pricing models, and prohibits spread-pricing, for payment arrangements with PBMs under Medicaid. It also requires Medicare payments for certain drug administration services at off-campus hospital outpatient departments to be the same as that for other provider settings (i.e., physician offices).
The bill provides funds for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Labor to implement and enforce the bill's requirements.
Finally, the bill extends several public health programs, including the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program (through FY2030) and the National Health Service Corps (through December 31, 2025).
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on December 11, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on December 11, 2023: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) introduced it on September 8, 2023, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 8, 2023, 1098 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1004 days ago, on December 11, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action