This bill, titled the "Patients Deserve Price Tags Act," aims to enhance price transparency across various healthcare sectors by amending the Public Health Service Act. It mandates that **hospitals** publicly disclose comprehensive standard charges, including gross charges, discounted cash prices, and payer-specific negotiated rates, in both machine-readable and consumer-friendly formats on a monthly basis. Hospitals must also provide maximum and minimum negotiated charges, and a senior official must attest to the accuracy of these disclosures. To ensure compliance, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish a monitoring process, reviewing each hospital annually. Non-compliant hospitals face **civil monetary penalties** that escalate based on bed count and duration of non-compliance, with no waivers permitted. The bill extends similar transparency requirements to **clinical diagnostic laboratories** and **imaging service providers** starting July 1, 2027, requiring them to publicly post detailed price information, including discounted cash prices and payer-specific negotiated charges, with penalties for non-compliance. **Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs)** with hospital ownership interests are also brought under these transparency mandates, effective July 1, 2027. They must disclose standard charges and prices for shoppable services in machine-readable and consumer-friendly formats, with annual compliance reviews and civil monetary penalties for failures. The Secretary will establish uniform methods and formats for these disclosures across all provider types. The legislation also strengthens **health coverage transparency requirements** for health plans. Beginning January 1, 2026, plans must provide a real-time, self-service online tool for enrollees to determine their cost-sharing for specific items and services, including deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and prior authorization requirements. Plans must also submit and publicly disclose detailed rate and payment information monthly, including in-network rates, historical drug prices, and out-of-network charges, in machine-readable files. To ensure accountability, health plans must attest to the accuracy and completeness of their disclosures, with audits conducted by the Secretary. Non-compliant health plans face civil monetary penalties of up to $300 per member per day or $10,000,000, whichever is less. The bill also increases **group health plan access to health data** by prohibiting contractual provisions that limit or delay a plan's access to claims and encounter information from service providers like third-party administrators and pharmacy benefit managers. These service providers must quarterly disclose detailed financial information, including contractual calculation methodologies, pricing schedules, rebates, fees, and alternative compensation arrangements, in standardized formats. Any contractual provisions that unduly limit this access are deemed void, and service providers face a **civil penalty of $100,000 per day** for non-compliance. The bill also mandates that health plans provide itemized explanations of benefits to patients within 45 days of a payment request, detailing costs, billing codes, and patient financial responsibility. Finally, healthcare providers and facilities are required to furnish **itemized bills** to individuals within 30 days of receiving final payment from a third party. These bills must include plain language descriptions, billing codes, prices, and information on charity care policies. Providers are prohibited from taking collection actions if they fail to comply with these itemized billing requirements or if the billed amount exceeds a good faith estimate, placing the burden of proof on the provider for any discrepancies. The Secretary will implement these provisions through notice and comment rulemaking, and state laws providing greater transparency are not superseded.