Any proposal will likely bevehemently opposed by major health care players, includinghospitals, insurers and groups representing doctors.( Photo: DougMills/Pool via Bloomberg)

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive orderaimed at requiring greater disclosure of prices in the health caresector.

The Wall Street Journal reports that sources in theadministration say the directive could come as early as next week.It would direct federal agencies to demand price disclosures fromhealth insurers and hospitals.

The executive order seeks to force insurers to reveal thediscounts they negotiate with hospitals for various medicalservices.

Related: Transforming health care with transparency: 4considerations beyond price

Defenders of the status quo say that revealing the negotiatedrates could lead to price increases. If hospitals see that theircompetitors are getting a better deal from insurers, it couldembolden them to demand higher reimbursement rates, which would ultimately getpassed onto patients.

The proposal will likely be vehemently opposed by major healthcare players, including hospitals, insurers and groups representingdoctors.

“Transparency for transparency's sake, and forced disclosure ofthousands upon thousands of competitively negotiated rates, willnot help consumers,” Matt Eyles, president of America's HealthInsurance Plans, an association of health insurers, tells the WallStreet Journal. “Instead, it will cause health-care costs to go upfor every American. To improve access and affordability, we need towork together to improve competition, choice andcollaboration.”

There has been division within the administration over theapproach to take on health care pricing, with some officialsfavoring a more aggressive policy. Joe Grogan, the head of theWhite House Domestic Policy Council, has not supported a number ofproposals aimed at drug and insurance price transparency.

Ironically, the Affordable Care Act, whose repeal Trumpcontinues to campaign for, is one of the laws the administration isciting in advancing pricing disclosures.

The executive order is not the only attack on price secrecy inWashington. Members of both parties in Congress have been puttingforth a variety of proposals aimed at greater transparency on allaspects of the health care system, including health plans, medicalservices and prescription medication.

Last year Congress overwhelmingly approved a law barringpharmacy benefit managers from imposing “gag clauses” on pharmacists. Such clausesprohibited pharmacies from informing patients that they would payless for a medication by paying out-of-pocket than through theirprescription drug plan.

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