Executive Order 14221 · Signed Feb 25, 2025

90 FR 11005 · Published Feb 28, 2025 · Effective on signing

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Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients With Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information

healthcare pricingprice transparencyhospital costshealth insuranceconsumer protection

Signed by President Donald Trump

Directs the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to rapidly enforce and strengthen existing healthcare price transparency rules, requiring that hospitals and health plans disclose actual — not estimated — prices for medical services and prescription drugs.

Builds on regulations from the first Trump term that the order says stalled under the Biden Administration, with the goal of enabling patients and employers to comparison-shop for care and reduce healthcare costs.

What this order does

What it orders

The order directs the Secretaries of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to implement and enforce healthcare price transparency regulations that were originally issued under Executive Order 13877 (2019). Within 90 days, the three agencies must take action on three specific fronts: require disclosure of actual prices for items and services rather than estimates; issue updated guidance or proposed rules to standardize pricing information so it is comparable across hospitals and health plans; and issue guidance or proposed rules updating enforcement policies to ensure hospitals and health plans post complete, accurate, and meaningful pricing data.

The order does not itself change any regulation or impose new legal requirements on hospitals or insurers — those changes must come through the guidance and rulemaking the agencies are directed to initiate. A standard severability clause limits the order's reach to actions consistent with existing law and available appropriations, and the order explicitly creates no enforceable rights for private parties.

Who it affects

Hospitals and health plans required to post pricing data under the existing transparency rules, pharmacy benefit managers whose drug-price data must be disclosed, employers who purchase health coverage, and patients seeking to compare prices before receiving care or filling prescriptions.

Why it matters

Patients and employers who rely on published price data may see more complete and standardized information if enforcement improves. Hospitals and health plans that have posted incomplete or no pricing data could face tougher penalties. Actual dollar impact depends on the guidance and rulemaking the agencies produce.

What must happen and when

How the order is supposed to work

The three agencies must act within 90 days but primarily through guidance or proposed rulemaking — meaning any binding changes to hospital or insurer obligations still require a separate regulatory process with notice and comment. The order sets the 90-day clock as a forcing mechanism for agencies to begin that process. No single agency leads; Treasury, Labor, and HHS each cover different parts of the regulated community (employer plans, hospital charges, and health plan filings, respectively). There is no dedicated enforcement fund or inter-agency coordinator named.

Actions and deadlines

  • Require disclosure of actual prices for items and services, not estimates, by hospitals and health plansWithin 90 days of signing
  • Issue updated guidance or proposed regulatory action standardizing pricing information for comparability across hospitals and health plansWithin 90 days of signing
  • Issue guidance or proposed regulatory action updating enforcement policies for complete, accurate, and meaningful price transparency dataWithin 90 days of signing

Agencies directed to act

Department of the TreasuryDepartment of LaborDepartment of Health and Human Services

Authority and reach

Authorities cited

Article II

Constitutional grant of executive power to the President.

Executive Order

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Executive Order 14221: Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients With Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information | EO Reporter