Senator Marshall: Patients Deserve Price Tags, Not Surprise Bills

Senator Marshall Hosts Press Conference on Patients Deserve Price Tags Act

Washington - Today, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), hosted a press conference following the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's overwhelming bipartisan approval of his Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, bringing the legislation one step closer to becoming law.

Senator Marshall was joined by the bill's original cosponsor, Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), and Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-Louisiana) to celebrate the bill's advancement and highlight its potential to lower healthcare costs for American families through greater price transparency.

Click HERE or on the image to download Senator Marshall's full remarks.

Remarks as delivered:

"I'm honored to be up here with Senator John Hickenlooper from the great state of Colorado, and, of course, Dr. Bill Cassidy, chairman of our committee.

This was a big win today - 21 to 1. Our Price Tags bill comes out of committee, and our message is simple: patients deserve price tags, not surprise bills.

We believe this bill can save the average American family about $1,000 a year. If you take an average Kansas family making around $70,000 a year and give them an extra $1,000 in savings, that's real money.

The number one issue back home in Kansas - and I know it's true in Colorado and Louisiana as well - as the cost of living. I believe this is the bill that will actually make a difference, sooner rather than later, in bringing down the cost of living for families.

Patients deserve price tags instead of surprise bills. Our bill forces transparency. It forces competition. And, like Senator Hickenlooper said, there will be penalties if hospitals don't comply.

Could you imagine driving down the street needing gas? There are four convenience stores on the corner, and you're trying to guess how much the gas costs. That's essentially how our healthcare system works today. Not only would they refuse to show you the price, but you wouldn't even know what it cost after you filled up. You'd simply hand them your credit card, wait three months, and then find out how much they charged you.

The same thing applies at the grocery store. Could you imagine standing at the meat counter trying to decide between hamburger and steak, or chicken and pork, without knowing what any of them cost?

Just like every other industry, when you force transparency, when you require prices to be posted, and when you create real competition, prices come down. In our case, we believe this bill can save families about $1,000 a year. We also think those savings will spill over into Medicare, Medicaid, and other payers. As those prices come down, it will help those folks as well.

So, I couldn't be prouder. I couldn't be prouder of our staffs. Again, John, thank you to you and your staff for all your work, and thank you to the committee staff on both sides of the aisle as well.

Bill Cassidy, thank you for your leadership. With that, I'll turn the microphone over to you."

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