In the News

The House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee advanced a broad package of bipartisan health care bills Thursday (June 25) aimed at increasing health care price transparency and strengthening prior authorization oversight.

The package includes measures requiring hospitals, insurers and other providers to disclose more pricing information, increasing reporting requirements surrounding prior authorization decisions and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), expanding transparency around Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and strengthening federal efforts to address illicit substances.

Among the most significant bills approved Thursday was the bipartisan Lower Costs, More Transparency Act of 2026 (H.R. 9393), sponsored by Energy & Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone (NJ). The legislation would expand federal price transparency requirements for hospitals, health plans, ambulatory surgical centers, laboratories and imaging providers, while strengthening enforcement tools for regulators.

The panel also advanced the Prior Authorization Accountability Act (H.R. 9396), which would require commercial insurers to publicly report approval and denial rates, appeal outcomes, response times and their use of AI and other automated decision-support technologies in prior authorization determinations.

Lawmakers also approved the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act (H.R. 3514), the longstanding bipartisan proposal from Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA) that would require MA plans establish electronic prior authorization programs and meet new beneficiary protection and reporting requirements.

Additional bills approved by the subcommittee would increase transparency around MA supplemental benefits, broker compensation, premium spending and encounter-level cost data.

Also, two community health center measures would expand behavioral health services and establish a nutrition education initiative.

The panel also advanced five overdose-related bills, including legislation permanently scheduling illicit xylazine and nitazenes under the Controlled Substances Act, expanding access to overdose reversal drugs in schools, supporting first responder training on fentanyl and xylazine test strips and directing HHS to issue guidance regarding fentanyl testing protocols in hospital emergency departments.

Sophia Tripoli, senior director of health policy at Families USA, told IHP in a statement Thursday that the bills’ advancement reflects “an important bipartisan recognition that patients, employers, and policymakers need far greater transparency throughout our health care system.”

“Shedding light on prices, prior authorization practices, broker compensation arrangements, and Medicare Advantage operations is a critical step toward exposing the corporate greed and opaque business practices that are driving our nation’s health care affordability crisis,” Tripoli said. “While transparency alone will not solve the affordability challenges facing families, it is an essential tool for accountability and a necessary foundation for broader efforts to lower health care costs.”

“We encourage the full committee to preserve and strengthen these transparency provisions as the legislation moves forward,” she added.

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