The folks who represent vast numbers of U.S. health systems have finally spoken out before Congress on the industry's response to Congressional efforts to force greater pricing transparency within the traditional health system.

Appearing before the House Ways & Means Committee, The American Hospital Association (AHA) lauded itself and its members for the steps they have taken to meet the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' tough new rules. It took advantage of the moment by pushing back at the lawmakers with a list of measures they and CMS could take to further help hospitals achieve compliance.

AHA led by underscoring the industry's positive responses to the transparency demands. Among them: establishment of a Price Transparency Task Force; multipronged member education initiatives; a "multi-stakeholder intensive design process … to develop solutions to improve the patient financial experience of care;" its response to the machine-readable requirement; and more.