For years, hospitals and insurers buried the price of healthcare in fine print, or didn't publish it at all. President Donald Trump spent his first term trying to fix that, and his administration tightened federal disclosure rules again on October 5. By Wednesday, two organizations had rolled out a tool for employers to check whether they're actually using that information when spending workers' healthcare dollars.
More than $40 billion a year goes toward healthcare at the Health Transformation Alliance (HTA)’s member companies. Their plans cover over 5 million people in the United States, according to HTA. With that much business to offer, these employers shouldn’t have to settle for contracts they can’t fully scrutinize.
The Corporate Health Plan Fiduciary Scorecard arrived October 7, with HTA and the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) behind it. Its 30 questions start with access to the employer’s own plan data. Further down come audits and vendor payments. A company can spend a fortune on coverage and still need to ask who has the records. That ought to bother whoever signs the checks.
Prescription drugs got particular attention when Trump revisited transparency in February 2025. His executive order accused the Biden administration of failing to enforce public disclosure of the prices health plans actually pay for them. Trump instructed agencies to enforce the earlier rules and require actual prices, rather than estimates, in disclosures buyers could compare. He had already established the requirements in his first term. Now he was back demanding follow-through.
As RedState covered Monday, Kennedy accused the industry of making the first round of disclosures harder to use by flooding people with information. So much for shopping around. If finding the price becomes a research project, the customer is still stuck.
Patients will also have a phone option for getting personalized information about their share of the cost, alongside the online tools. HHS also announced changes to remove unnecessary data and hold plans accountable for the accuracy of what they publish. Kennedy tied those changes directly to Trump’s instructions:
“President Trump directed us to bring real price transparency to healthcare, and HHS is delivering. These rules give patients clearer, more reliable information to compare costs, understand their coverage, and make informed decisions before receiving care.”
One scorecard question concerns independent advisers who receive no payments from insurers or pharmacy benefit managers. Consider the employer’s position: It wants help choosing coverage, but the person offering that help could have a financial interest in the recommendation. Before buying the advice, find out who else is paying for it.
For claims exceeding $50,000, the assessment asks about itemized reviews. It also covers independent audits and limits on shared-savings fees, the money vendors collect for reducing costs. The employer needs to check those charges, too. Calling a fee “shared savings” hardly puts it above inspection.
Rob Andrews, HTA’s CEO, described what employers should expect for their money in the launch announcement:
“Employers spend billions of dollars on healthcare, and they have an obligation to understand where that money is going and what they are getting for it. Having access to better information gives employers the ability to ask harder questions about their healthcare spending and demand greater value for employees and their families.”
This assessment takes less than 15 minutes, according to its creators. HTA and SFOF developed it independently, and employers decide whether to participate. Following up on a questionable contract will take longer than checking a box.
A competing price gives an employer grounds to push back at renewal. That’s the practical value of what Trump has pursued: the buyer can challenge the seller with numbers. Companies already negotiate over other major expenses. Healthcare vendors don't get a pass anymore just because their bills are impossible to read.
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