Transparency Legislation Hasn’t Yet Led to Cost Savings for State Employee Health Plans

Payers generally applauded the passage of the No Surprises Act (NSA) in 2020 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021, thinking the bills would lead to more transparency and lower costs. However, although the two pieces of legislation have contributed to larger amounts of publicly available claims and pricing data, state employee health plans (SEHPs) report that “significant barriers constrain translating improved access to data into more aggressive cost containment strategies,” according to a report released on July 10 from Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR).

Sabrina Corlette, CHIR’s founder and co-director, tells AIS Health that from conducting the research and speaking with SEHP administrators she’s found “it’s going to take a while for the impact of those laws to be felt.” SEHPs provide health insurance for state and local government employees and are often among the largest payers in any given state.