New Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws, Regulations, and Websites Released

Forty-five states received a failing grade, only two received a B (Maine and Massachusetts), and no states earned an A, according to the second annual Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws developed by Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) and Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3). The Report Card offers policymakers, consumer advocates, and other health care stakeholders a comprehensive state-by-state resource on consumer access to price information for health services. The grades are lower than in 2013 as this year’s Report Card no longer graded states only on the laws they have adopted to promote price transparency, but also on states’ price transparency regulations, price transparency websites (to the extent they exist), and all payer claims databases – the ideal source of data for these websites because they contain more accurate, complete price information. States that relied on all-payer claims databases as the source of price information for consumers received higher grades, as did states with adequate, fully operational, consumer friendly websites (mandated by law).

Some states have robust price transparency laws and regulations on the books, requiring them to create a publicly available website – but often the public can’t readily access price information because the website is poorly designed, or inadequately functioning. As an example, New Hampshire – a state that received an A in last year’s Report Card – received an F this year, because its website is inoperative and may remain so for an extended period.

To get a high score, a state needed to have both the “spirit of the law” – public access to a fully functioning website, and the “letter of the law” – robust legislation and regulations on the books ensuring the price information would remain accessible.

You can view the full report card here.