Natural State News

Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R-Clarksville) has sponsored House Bill 1064, which aims to increase transparency and help lower health care costs for Arkansans.

HB 1064 will expand the Arkansas Insurance Department’s capacity to gather, review, analyze, validate and present health data. It would then require the department to publish these findings on its website so health care consumers can effectively compare rates.

The bill aims “to promote price transparency in reimbursement of hospitals by insurers, establish the disclosure of reimbursement rates for hospitals act, and to require disclosure by an insurer of reimbursement rates for hospitals,” it states.

HB 1064 will allow the creation of an available electronic source of information for patients, health professionals and hospitals with regard to health care rates. 

A Galen Institute study indicates that price transparency leads empowers consumers and helps businesses set up payment models in which their employees can maximize value from their health care spending - resulting in more affordable and accessible health care.

According to a 2019 Harvard Harris poll, nearly 9 in 10 Americans support price transparency in healthcare.

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that health care costs for the same procedure can vary by tens of thousands of dollars depending on the provider. A knee replacement can range from $33,000 to $101,000. Health care consumers could pay far less by finding the lowest cost if they were able to more effectively compare prices.

Arkansas health care spending has risen to $6,804 per capita in 2021.