Trump to order hospitals to be transparent about healthcare costs

U.S. President Trump meets with Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau at the White House in Washington

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump will sign an executive order aimed at requiring hospitals to be more transparent about prices before charging patients for healthcare services, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said on Monday.

The executive order will direct HHS to issue a rule that will mandate hospitals to disclose in an "easy-to-read, patient-friendly format" what prices patients and insurers will actually end up paying, Azar said.

The order will ultimately require healthcare providers and insurers to provide patients with information about the out-of-pocket costs they'll face before they receive healthcare services, he said.

Senior administration officials said on Monday that the specifics regarding the level of detail that hospitals will be required to provide are to be determined during a forthcoming rule-making process.

"Every time any one of us goes to a doctor or a hospital, within a couple of weeks in our mailbox arrives an explanation of benefits," the officials said.

"What we're saying is you got the rights to know that information before you get a service ... an advanced explanation of benefits, instead of one that comes after the fact, when it does you no darn good."

(Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)