Simple Healthcare has released a new white paper, History of Price Transparency in U.S. Healthcare: How Healthcare Became a Market Without Visible Prices, that chronicles how the U.S. healthcare system evolved into one of the few major markets where prices have historically been opaque. The paper traces the shift from direct payment to complex financing, managed care, and negotiated contracts that separated care delivery from clear prices, leaving patients, employers, and purchasers without meaningful price information. While recent federal mandates like the Hospital Price Transparency and Transparency in Coverage rules have made millions of negotiated rates publicly available, the paper emphasizes that disclosure alone isn’t enough — inconsistent formats, data quality problems, and complexity hinder usability. Tne next phase of transparency must focus on transforming raw data into clean, validated, decision-ready intelligence to support better choices, stronger purchasing power, improved negotiations, and more effective oversight across the healthcare market.

Read the full press release here.