CMS grants insurers partial reprieve in price transparency rule

The latest guidance does not apply to a requirement for transparency in pharmacy benefits and drug prices, which is scheduled to go into effect at the end of the year. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Hospitals and health systems did their best to delay the first iteration of the federal price transparency rule requiring them to disclose prices, to no avail. Health insurers, however, are having a little more luck. Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a six-month delay in enforcement of several of the insurer price transparency law’s key provisions, which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2022.

The law will take effect as intended, with insurers required to disclose their in-network and out-of-network rates, but enforcement will not begin until July. “On July 1, 2022, the departments intend to begin enforcing the requirement that plans and issuers publicly disclose information related to in-network rates and out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges for plan years,” CMS wrote.