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Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
More than 500 hospitals, including 16 in Tennessee, received a warning from the Trump administration for failure to provide basic pricing information to the public.
A list obtained by the Associated Press shows 519 hospitals have received warnings or have been asked to submit plans for providing transparent pricing since April. Failure to comply could result in fines of as much as $2 million each year for hospitals that do not come up with a pricing disclosure plan.
The Trump Administration has argued that without knowing the cost of medical procedures up front, patients, employers, or insurers may end up paying more than they should.
The following Tennessee hospitals have received a letter:
Warning Notices:
Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital – Nashville
Cookeville Regional Medical Center – Cookeville
Haywood Park Community Hospital – Brownsville
Lakeside Behavioral Health System – Memphis
Riverview Regional Medical Center – Carthage
Rolling Hills Hospital – Franklin
Sumner Regional Medical Center – Gallatin
Trousdale Medical Center – Hartsville
Corrective Action Plan (CAP):
Ascension Saint Thomas Three Rivers – Waverly
Bradley Medical Center Westside Campus – Cleveland
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital – Knoxville
Saint Thomas Hospital for Specialty Surgery – Nashville
Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation – Chattanooga
Sweetwater Hospital Association – Sweetwater
West Tennessee Healthcare Milan Hospital – Milan
Wiliamson Medical Center – Franklin
According to a senior advisor, President Trump plans to crack down on enforcement of pricing transparency in an effort to stop families from suffering caused by unexpected medical expenses.
2 Responses
GOOD!!
Overall, this is one of the better incremental steps in U.S. healthcare policy. Real transparency is a prerequisite for meaningful reform. You can’t have a healthy (pun intended) functioning market without prices. Hospitals will complain about burden and complexity, but patients deserve to know costs upfront rather than getting blindsided later. If paired with broader competition measures (e.g., on insurers, drugs, scope of practice), it could help bend the cost curve.
Limitations (realistic caveats) data is often complex/machine-readable and not to disparage people’s intelligence but…. it’s hard for average consumers to understand the language used without tools or benefit consultants explaining things.
Positive aspects are it empowers patients and employers to shop around, compare costs, and push for competition. It addresses a real driver of high costs and lack of information leads to inefficiency and higher spending. Applies pressure across the board (red and blue states, large systems like Ascension). Consistent with market-oriented reforms: sunlight as a disinfectant. Trump Rx coupled with “better” hospital pricing should make thing better cost wise…..hopefully.
Limitations (realistic caveats). It doesn’t directly cap prices or fix underlying issues like hospital consolidation, defensive medicine, or insurance distortions. Enforcement has been spotty in the past; many hospitals were non-compliant historically a 2024 study showed ~97% of TN hospitals had some kind of issue(s).