WASHINGTON – Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, David Merritt, issued the following statement in support of the passage of the Lower Cost More Transparency Act. 

“As prices for health care services continue to rise, we need solutions that bring down the cost of care for patients, consumers, businesses and hardworking taxpayers. We commend the House for taking action to advance transparent billing practices for hospital outpatient departments and for extending site-neutral payment policies to physician-administered drugs. Our seniors should not be charged more simply because a hospital system bought a doctor’s practice and started calling it a hospital outpatient center. 

“While this is a critical step to affordability, we are concerned that codifying the transparency in coverage requirements will not give the private sector the needed flexibility to best serve our members with the timely, actionable information they need. Blue Cross Blue Shield companies remain focused on developing tools that help consumers access and compare out-of-pocket costs, see doctors’ ratings and reviews as well as to know if their preferred provider is in network. We look forward to our continued work with Congress to drive health care affordability to all.”