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Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Healthcare Healthcare The Big Story HHS revamps price transparency rules The Trump administration is revamping its transparency rules, trying to make health insurers clearly publish the prices they negotiate with doctors and hospitals. © iStock The rule finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Employee Benefits Security Administration and the IRS on Monday builds on an earlier requirement that hospitals publish their prices in a “machine-readable file” so patients can find and compare the cost of services beforehand. Insurers and most employer-sponsored health plans currently post monthly files, listing in-network rates, out-of-network payments and drug prices. But in practice, that information is presented in gargantuan raw data dumps that are cluttered and filled with prices for unrealistic services, like the price for a heart surgery done by a psychiatrist, or a baby delivery performed by a podiatrist. “Simply put, you basically need a supercomputer to process the data, which has limited who can work with the data,” said Peter Nelson, who directs the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The new rules seek to make the data more standardized and usable. It also requires insurers to report in-network rates as a dollar figure, instead of a percentage or some other estimate, though there are exceptions. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the new rules would reduce file sizes of pricing data by 70 percent. “The results will be better information for the people who need it. Patients will be better able to compare what care costs before they receive it, and lawyers will be better able to judge whether the insurers that they hire are negotiating the best prices for their workers, and researchers will be able to identify price disparities and study where the market is failing and where the system is failing,” Kennedy said. The administration said the rule changes will save plans about $174.5 million annually. Read more at TheHill.com. Welcome to The Hill’s Healthcare newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the healthcare sector this week and beyond: US reups do-not-travel warning for Russia over ‘suspected pneumonic plague’ The U.S. is refreshing its call for Americans not to travel to Russia in the wake of a suspected case of pneumonic plague in Siberia. In a post on the social platform X on Tuesday, the State Department said, “The U.S. Embassy is aware of press reports from the Irkutsk region of suspected pneumonic plague resulting in the death of an individual and of associated quarantine measures in, and closures of, hospitals in Irkutsk.” … Full Story Appeals panel wrestles with block of RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel appointments The Trump administration told a federal appeals panel Tuesday that a lower court erred in blocking Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked appointees from serving on a key vaccine advisory panel. Justice Department attorney Matthew Zorn told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a district court judge did not have the authority to suspend Kennedy’s appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices … Full Story Medicare for All support soars to 66 percent in 6 years: KFF poll Support for Medicare for All jumped to 66 percent among U.S. adults in 2026, highest since 2016, according to polling results published Tuesday. Health research group KFF found that 32 percent of those surveyed strongly favored “having a national health plan … in which all Americans would get their insurance from a single government plan,” a stance commonly referred to as Medicare for All. It also found support for the … Full Story In Other News Branch out with a different read: Newsom calls for 25th Amendment after Trump’s remarks on California President Trump is stoking outrage among California Democrats and at least one House GOP candidate after he suggested at a midterm rally that he would allow Iran to “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego. Full Story Around the Nation Local and state headlines on healthcare: Brigham nurses union alleges MGB board rife with conflicts of interest, requests state investigation (The Boston Globe) DeSantis boasts about Medicaid fraud crackdown efforts (Florida Phoenix) What We're Reading Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets: Momentum is building for a big change to how doctors get paid (Stat) RFK Jr. announces vaccine injury clinic, initiative at NIH (Bloomberg) America's disease detectives overseas are starting to close up shop (Politico) What People Think Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: MAHA’s not buying what AOC is sellingA new Medicare program opened the door to obesity treatment — keep it open You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow! [sailthru_widget name="Sailthru Widget Block" sailthru_list="Health Care" title="Health Care"]document fetched 2026-10-07 02:56 · canonical https://thehill.com/newsletters/healthcare/6132791-trump-admin-revamps-price-transparency