An opinion video by Martin Schoeller, a world-renowned photographer, titled “How much does your MRI cost? Buy it to find out,” was published by the New York Times.

As of July 1, 2022, The Transparency in Coverage rule, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), requires insurance companies and employer plans, like hospitals to publish their actual prices online for the services and goods they provide.

Cynthia Fisher, founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocates.org, joined Josh Archambault, founder of Presidents Lane Consulting, on an op-ed calling for North Carolina to end their gag clause for public employee healthcare plans that keeps negotiated rates and historical claims data confidential.

On June 6, PatientRightsAdvocate.Org (PRA), in partnership with Families USA, filed an Amicus Brief in the case Pottstown School District (plaintiff-appellant) v. Pottstown Hospital, LLC, et al (defendants-appellees) which focuses on challenging the tax-exempt status of Pottstown Hospital, which is emblematic of this Pennsylvania and national crisis.

The cost of healthcare is once again on the rise as American hospitals are reportedly looking to increase their prices by up to 15 percent. Cynthia A. Fisher, PRA founder and chair, recently penned an OP-ED stating that before any hospital raises its prices, it should actually become compliant with the price transparency law.

PatientRightsAdvocate.org sent a letter to HCA Healthcare ahead of their annual meeting alerting leaders that zero of their 188 hospitals reviewed are complying with price transparency rules, encouraging them to comply and provide transparent prices. The letter also included PRA’s semi-annual report showing that only 14.3% of hospitals nationally are complying with the 2021 Hospital Price Transparency laws.

Colorado is currently considering legislation to protect patients from financial ruin. HB1285 forbids hospitals from sending consumers' bills to collections if they aren't complying with federal price transparency law. The legislation adheres to a fundamental moral principle: You shouldn't face bankruptcy for bills you never agreed to. It is sponsored by Republican and Democrat leadership.

PatientRightsAdvocate.org sent a letter to U.S. Congress requesting greater enforcement of healthcare price transparency. The letter cites PRA’s recent report showing that only 14.3 percent of hospitals are complying with price transparency law. It also highlights new polling conducted by John Della Volpe and SocialSphere finding that healthcare price transparency is supported by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of around 90 percent of Americans.

The Southern California News Group, whose papers include the Los Angeles Daily News and Orange County Register, ran PRA’s op-ed featuring its research showing that Los Angeles hospital prices can vary by more than ten times for the same care — even at the same hospital. As Cynthia A. Fisher, PRA founder and chair, explains: New research by PatientRightsAdvocate.org reveals how outrageous and arbitrary hospital prices, which can vary by ten times depending on the payer or hospital, burden Los Angeles-area consumers.

Cynthia A. Fisher, founder and chair of PRA, has an op-ed in Fortune discussing the one-year anniversary this month of the hospital price transparency rule. As Cynthia explains in the op-ed: The rule clarifies an Obamacare provision requiring hospitals to publish their standard charges. It directs hospitals to post their actual prices, including their discounted cash and secret contracted rates, so patients can shop for the best quality care at the lowest possible prices.

The Boston Herald ran a PRA op-ed discussing how the hospital industry’s opposition to pro-patient reforms like price transparency is merely their attempt to continue profiteering off patients’ misfortune.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, and Boston Globe ran PRA letters on healthcare price transparency.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger ran a joint op-ed by Cynthia A. Fisher, founder and chairman of PRA, and Kyle Bragg, president of SEIU 32BJ. The piece explains how healthcare price transparency can eliminate widespread hospital price gouging by empowering consumers to shop for quality, less-expensive care. It highlights how the SEIU 32BJ Health Fund recently decided to drop New York-Presbyterian Hospital from its health plan network after its data showed that the system charges on average 358% more than Medicare for the same procedures.

Barron’s and MarketWatch recently ran an op-ed by Cynthia A. Fisher, founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, explaining how healthcare price transparency can address American workers’ falling real wages due to high inflation. Cynthia discusses how employers can use actual, upfront prices to identify quality, less expensive care and share these savings with employees in the form of higher wages

The Biden Administration’s proposed OPPS rule to strengthen hospital price transparency has received support from a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) have submitted comment letters in support of the proposal.

PatientRightsAdvocate.org submitted a public comment for the Biden Administration’s proposed 2022 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule. The comment letter explains how this rule is an opportunity to usher in systemwide healthcare price transparency, with actual, upfront prices – not estimates – for all consumers. Doing so will deliver on the Biden Administration’s pro-competition agenda and broader healthcare goals to make the American healthcare system simple, affordable, accessible, and equitable by ushering in a functional, competitive market that puts consumers in control of their healthcare decisions.

PRA founder and chairman Cynthia A. Fisher appeared on NPR Charlotte Talks With Mike Collins to discuss healthcare price transparency.

PatientRightsAdvocate.org submitted a public comment to CMS regarding its proposed rule: Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part I (the “IFC”). The letter calls on CMS to strengthen its final surprise billing rule to include real price transparency.