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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2025
Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries
Trump Administration Proposes Significant Updates to Disclosure Requirements to Make Health Care Prices Clear, Accurate, and Actionable for Americans
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in partnership with the Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments), today jointly proposed major updates to the historic health care price transparency rules established during President Trump’s first term.
“Americans have a right to know what health care costs before they pay for it,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “This proposal delivers real transparency by turning hidden pricing into clear, usable information—so families can make informed decisions and hold the system accountable. It fulfills President Trump’s commitment to put patients, not special interests, first.”
The 2020 Transparency in Coverage rules transformed the landscape of health care pricing, making hidden costs available for the first time. The proposals in this rule would enhance the impact of the pricing information by reducing file complexity and size, making data clearer, and producing more usable information that consumers, employers, and innovators can rely on.
“Every person deserves to know what their health care will cost without needing a team of analysts to decode it,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “This overhaul takes a giant step toward that effort. By delivering clearer, more reliable pricing information, we are empowering Americans to take control of their care and creating a more competitive and affordable health system in the process.”
The 2020 Transparency in Coverage rules led to the historic release of pricing information, allowing employers, researchers, and the broader public to learn critical details about the costs of health care. However, the Transparency in Coverage data has been difficult to access and navigate. Oversized files, duplicative data, and information that could not be easily compared across the health insurance landscape has limited its use and reliability. The Departments’ proposals would directly confront these barriers by simplifying how data is organized, eliminating unnecessary information, and making consumer-facing cost tools more accessible to more consumers.
In line with Executive Order 14221, this proposed rule reflects the Department’s commitment to ensuring that health care pricing data is not only public but maximally impactful and actionable.
Key improvements include:
- Requiring plans and issuers to exclude from the In-network Rate Files certain data for services providers would be unlikely to perform.
- Reorganizing In-network Rate Files by provider network rather than by plan, cutting redundancy, and aligning with how most hospitals report data pursuant to the Hospital Price Transparency requirements.
- Requiring Change-log and Utilization Files so users can easily identify what has changed from one In-network Rate File to the next and have clear information on which in-network providers are actively furnishing which items and services.
- Reducing reporting cadence for In-network Rate and Allowed Amount Files from monthly to quarterly, significantly reducing burden while maintaining meaningful transparency.
- Increasing the amount of out-of-network pricing information reported by reorganizing Allowed Amount files by health insurance market type, reducing the claims threshold to 11 or more claims, and increasing the reporting period from 90 days to 6 months and the lookback period of data from 180 days to 9 months.
The Departments are proposing these changes to open the door for more organizations, including those with fewer technical resources, to analyze pricing data, build consumer-friendly tools, and drive competition across the health care industry.
“This proposal builds on President Trump’s ongoing efforts to fix our broken health care system by making health care prices more transparent for working families,” said U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. “By empowering American workers to make better-informed health care decisions, this Administration is driving real competition to help lower health care costs and make life more affordable for all Americans.”
Additionally, to ensure that every individual can access accurate, personalized health care pricing information in the way that works best for them, the proposed rule strengthens requirements for plan or issuer-provided price comparison tools by aligning them with consumer protections established under the No Surprises Act. Under the proposal, group health plans and health insurance issuers would be required to provide the same detailed cost-sharing information whether viewed online, or in print or provided by telephone, upon request. This modernization would ensure that transparency is not limited by internet access or digital literacy, advancing the Departments’ goal of democratizing access to critical health information. Further, updated disclosures will take into account new federal protections against balance billing under the No Surprises Act. These disclosures would ensure patients understand their rights and potential financial responsibilities before they seek care.
Together, the proposed updates would make pricing information more accurate, more accessible, and more actionable than ever before. By improving clarity, accuracy, and providing better contextual information, the Departments aim to equip employers, innovators, and researchers with the information they need to strengthen negotiations, identify cost drivers, and build new tools that help consumers shop for care with confidence.
The proposed rules do not include major changes to prescription drug disclosure requirements, which the Departments intend to address separately.[1]
The Departments seek feedback from stakeholders during the 60-day comment period on all elements of the proposed rule, including opportunities for further standardization and burden reduction. The deadline to submit comments is February 26, 2026.
To access the proposed rule, visit: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2025-23693/transparency-in-coverage
To read the CMS fact sheet, visit: cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/transparency-coverage-proposed-rule-cms-9882-p
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