Method Man, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, and more rappers join medical price transparency PSA
As a historic medical price transparency bill is battling its way through Washington, D.C., Method Man, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Chuck D, Fat Joe, and French Montana team up with Power to the Patients to deliver a PSA on medical transparency.
Hip-hop has joined the medical price transparency chat.
On Friday, ahead of a congressional vote on healthcare transparency bills in Washington D.C., Method Man, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Chuck D, Fat Joe, and French Montana released a timely public service announcement about medical price transparency by Power to the Patients.
The PSA, which is a video being shared across social media, features the rappers speaking about the issue at hand and hip-hop’s role since its conception 50 years ago in voicing the struggles of the marginalized.
Over the course of the minute-long video, the men break down how many U.S. patients are subjected to costly medical expenses without receiving all of their options for care.
“Today, we confront a healthcare system that’s been rigged against all of us. Hospitals force patients to sign contracts for services without ever showing us actual prices,” the rappers said in a joint statement.
They added, “Stifling competition. Overcharging without accountability, and we can’t pay. These same contracts allow them to take everything we own, creating so much fear that millions and millions of Americans refuse to enter a hospital. Our health and our lives at stake. This is an American humanitarian crisis.”
The video ends with the rappers demanding price transparency in healthcare.
Earlier this month, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, to address price transparency, prescription drug costs and workforce investment.
While the bill has support from both sides of the aisle, the American Hospital Association (AHA) expressed apprehension in a letter.
“The AHA has serious concerns about the added regulatory burdens on hospitals and health systems from the provisions to codify the Hospital Price Transparency Rule and to establish unique identifiers for off-campus hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs),” AHA officials wrote.
If the bill were to pass and the medical industry moved into the norm of briefing patients about the cost of treatment and medications before strapping them with bills, many would be empowered to take control over their healthcare costs.
Presently, healthcare debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America, with roughly $88 billion in collections throughout the country. Meanwhile, according to the Patients Rights Advocate, only 36% of hospitals in the country are compliant with the current Federal Price Transparency Rule.
Last week, the Biden Adminstration also announced new regulations to ban healthcare debt from credit scores. If the regulations are taken on, they would help millions of Americans free up and protect their credit scores.
“No one in this country should have to go into debt to get the quality health care they need,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, who announced the new moves along with Rohit Chopra, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB.
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