Statement from Newt Gingrich, Ken Blackwell, Brian Blase, and Steve Forbes on the Economic Impact of Healthcare Price Transparency

President Trump has taken on the medical industrial complex—insurance companies, hospital systems, and drug manufacturers—to help middle-income American families. Because of the actions of the Trump Administration, American patients, consumers, and employers will soon have price information in advance of receiving medical care.

The benefits to healthcare price transparency are abundant. This information will help patients and employers be better purchasers of care and will protect families from price gouging and surprise billing. In essence, healthcare price transparency will drive down prices by empowering Americans to shop for healthcare and coverage. Most importantly, better informed consumers and employers, aware of what providers are charging, will take actions that force the medical industry and insurance companies to become more efficient—offering higher quality services at lower prices.

Economic and empirical evidence suggest price transparency and improved payment models can reduce healthcare prices and spending by 20 percent or more. This will boost the economy, making it easier for businesses to hire workers and increase wages. The American people overwhelmingly support the Trump Administration’s actions in this area. More than 90 percent of Americans believe hospitals and insurers should provide up front price information. It is the single most impactful policy change to healthcare in more than a decade.

The President’s opponent, Joe Biden, and his fellow Democrats have failed to support healthcare price transparency. Instead, they continue to double down on a failed status quo, with a policy agenda built around sending more subsidies to big health insurance companies and increasing the power of the federal bureaucracy. While the Trump Administration’s policies put patients in charge and will boost market competition and innovation, Biden has chosen to empower the government and health insurance companies. Unfortunately, if Joe Biden is elected president, his administration may side with the medical industrial complex and reverse the healthcare price transparency rules.

Now is the time to answer the call of the people, drive down healthcare prices, protect patients from surprise billing, spark innovation and new models of coverage, and help employers boost wages and hire more workers. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are poised for a great economic comeback and healthcare price transparency is going to be a major part of that.

A Biden administration is a threat to this tremendous progress. It’s important for the American people to understand what’s at stake. President Trump has a unique and real opportunity to communicate the economic benefits of healthcare price transparency during tonight’s debate.

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Newt Gingrich is the Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Ken Blackwell is the Former State Treasurer of Ohio and former Mayor of Cincinnati

Brian Blase is the CEO of Blase Policy Strategies

Steve Forbes is the Chairman and CEO of Forbes Media