PBGH Celebrates Wins on Transparency and Affordability in CMS’s 2026 OPPS Final Rule
Oakland, CA (November 21, 2025) – The Purchaser Business Group on Health (“PBGH”) celebrates CMS’s finalization of two proposals in its 2026 OPPS Final Rule that will increase health care transparency and affordability: (1) Strengthening the Hospital Price Transparency (“HPT”) Rule, and (2) Expanding site-neutral payments to outpatient drug administration services. PBGH submitted comments in strong support of both proposals on September 15, 2025.
“These two provisions are important steps forward for health care transparency and affordability for patients and purchasers alike,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, President and CEO of PBGH. “With Congress focused on other priorities since key transparency provisions were left on the 1-yard line at the end of last year, it is encouraging to see the Administration pressing ahead with commonsense, bipartisan reforms that will lower health care costs and further improve price transparency.”
PBGH strongly endorsed CMS’s proposals in its Proposed Rule while encouraging CMS to use its existing statutory authority to go even further, both on site neutrality and price transparency:
- Site-Neutral Payments. PBGH encouraged CMS to expand site neutral payments to additional services and locations, and to reference MedPAC’s guidance when designing future site neutral proposals.
- Hospital Price Transparency Rule. PBGH recommended that CMS increase penalties for noncompliant hospitals and require hospitals to disclose historical negotiated rates in dollars and cents rather the 10th and 90th percentiles it proposed.
PBGH’s members are using the HPT data as well as the Transparency in Coverage (“TiC”) data to lower health care costs and improve care quality for employees and their families. CMS strengthening these rules even further is critical for purchasers to make the data actionable so the price transparency rules achieve their intended purpose.
On the site-neutral front, PBGH’s members support site-neutral payments in Medicare because such reforms decrease the incentives for health care providers to consolidate and because of the Medicare program’s influence on commercial market payment policies.
PBGH looks forward to continuing to work with CMS and the Administration to advance policies that further improve health care affordability, transparency, and accountability.