Health care spending concept The price transparency rule will only be effective when consumers use the information to seek care from lower-cost and high-quality providers.

Nearly 18 months after new hospital price transparency rules took effect on Jan. 1, 2021 — requiring hospitals to supply detailed pricing information for easy cost comparisons — this much is clear: Price transparency may be a necessary mechanism to lower hospital costs and health care spending, but it's not enough.

That's the message delivered during a 60-minute webinar on April 14 hosted by the American Academy of Actuaries titled "Hospital Prices: Can Greater Price Transparency Drive Lower Prices and Reduce Price Variation?" Presenters included representatives from the academy, as well as the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Congressional Budget Office.

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