Trump signs order to reveal real health care costs

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday calling for upfront disclosure by hospitals of actual prices for common tests and procedures to help keep costs down.

The idea is to give patients practical information they can use to save money. For example, if a hospital charges your insurer $3,500 for a type of echocardiogram and the same test costs $550 in a doctor's office, you might go for the lower-price procedure to save on copays.

But insurers said the idea could backfire, prompting hospitals now giving deeper discounts to try to raise their own negotiated prices to match what high earners are getting. Hospitals were skeptical of the move.

Trump's order also requires patients be told ahead of time what their out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and copays will be for many procedures.

Little will change right away. The executive order calls for a rule-making process by federal agencies, which typically takes months or even years. The details of what information will have to be disclosed and how it will be made available to patients must be worked out as part of writing the regulations. That will involve a complex give-and-take with hospitals, insurers and others affected.