Trump administration warns hundreds of hospitals to increase price transparency or face fines

By — Josh Boak, Associated Press Josh Boak, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/trump-administration-warns-hundreds-of-hospitals-to-increase-price-transparency-or-face-fines Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump administration warns hundreds of hospitals to increase price transparency or face fines Health Jun 10, 2026 7:27 PM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be. WATCH: 1 in 3 Americans forced to make financial sacrifices for health coverage The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or, in more severe cases, requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Failing to comply with the warnings comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn't create a plan to post clear pricing data. The letters are meant to fix a fundamental problem that patients, employers and insurers might not know ahead of time the cost of blood work, an imaging test or another form of treatment, and as a result pay more than they should have. The AP has posted the list of hospitals that have received letters. A senior administration official who requested anonymity to provide the list said President Donald Trump plans to tighten enforcement of price transparency standards made possible by a 2019 executive order signed by Trump. More hospitals are likely to receive letters regarding the absence of pricing data, the official said. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. The warnings are the latest example of Trump leaning into the message that his administration is fixing the problem of healthcare expenses that can drain a family budget. It's a calculated pitch ahead of the November midterms at a time when affordability is a top concern for voters. But Trump is also vulnerable on this particular issue, as his administration allowed subsidies to lapse for people buying insurance through the 2010 Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. READ MORE: Many Americans plan to cut food to afford ACA health insurance, new poll shows Just 29% of U.S. adults approved of Trump's healthcare policies according to the most recent survey on the issue by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research . The president fared slightly worse on that issue in the December survey than on the economy, immigration or his management of the federal government. Data on healthcare prices can be confusing Gary Claxton, senior vice president and the director of the program on the healthcare marketplace at KFF, said the pricing data is more useful for benefit consultants and others in t