Just Published: The Source Research Report “The Secret of Health Care Prices: Why Transparency Is in the Public Interest”
Many health care providers and payers seek to maintain the confidentiality of amounts paid for services as trade secrets, claiming their secrecy provides a competitive advantage. With support from the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), The Source's Katie Gudiksen, Sammy Chang, and Jaime King examine the legal and economic implications of collecting and releasing this data in the newly published report, The Secret of Health Care Prices: Why Transparency Is in the Public Interest.
Part I of this report reviews trade secret statutes and case law regarding the protection of negotiated prices as trade secrets and demonstrates that California can allow or require disclosure of information that is in the public interest. Part II presents economic evidence about when disclosing negotiated rates is in the public interest. Part III compiles and compares the current and planned price dissemination practices for 18 states with mandatory APCD data collection programs. Finally, Part IV makes recommendations for California as the state seeks to create an APCD that furthers the legislative intent of increased transparency in health care pricing.
Download the report here.