[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25596]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             PROVIDING TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTH CARE PRICING

  (Mr. KAGEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, isn't it time we had transparency in all 
health care pricing? Wouldn't you like to know the price of a pill 
before you buy it? Wouldn't you like to know the price of the greatest 
discount a hospital offered at your location? Wouldn't you like to know 
the lowest price an insurance company accepted for payment in full for 
their health insurance policy?
  This is a picture of several pills you can buy at a grocery store, 
and the price is always openly disclosed. Isn't it time that Congress 
passed legislation to guarantee that, at all times, any business entity 
that offers medical products and services for sale to the public openly 
disclose all of their prices and then accept the lowest price from 
everybody that they have accepted from anybody else? Isn't it time we 
had transparency in health care pricing?

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