White House says medical insurance price transparency rule finalized

[October 30, 2020]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday finalized a requirement for health insurance companies to disclose to the public the price they pay for covered services and prescription drugs, the White House said.

A general view of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

"Further, insurance companies will be required to disclose the estimated cost a patient will have to pay, prior to that patient receiving care," the White House said in a statement.

Healthcare costs during the coronavirus pandemic is one of the main issues in the campaign for Tuesday's presidential election in which Republican Trump trails his Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls.

Trump last year signed an executive order on healthcare transparency.

He said at a White House event in May last year that "surprise billings" had left some patients with thousands of dollars of unexpected and unjustified charges for services they did not know anything about.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

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