Black Men In Hip-hop Join Medical Price Transparency Conversation

Hip-hop has made its way into the medical price transparency chat.

Last Friday, just before the congressional vote on healthcare transparency bills in Washington D.C., hip-hop artists Method Man, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Chuck D, Fat Joe and French Montana put out a timely public service announcement pertaining to medical price transparency by the Power to the Patients, according to The Grio.

The video shared across social media features the rappers speaking on the issue at hand as well as its hip-hop role since its conception 50 years ago in “voicing the struggles of the marginalized."

In the minute-long video, some of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time analyzed how many U.S. patients are subjected to costly medical expenses without attaining all medical care options.

“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.

“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.”

At the end of the video, the rappers demand price transparency in healthcare.

Lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill, the Lower Costs and More Transparency Act, earlier this month to address price transparency, prescription drug costs as well as workforce investment.

The bill does have support from both sides of the spectrum. But the American Hospital Association (AHA) had some apprehension.

“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.

Many could be empowered to take control of their healthcare costs if the bill were to pass, and the medical industry moved into the norm of briefing patients regarding the cost of treatment and medications before strapping them with bills.

Right now, the healthcare dept is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America, compiling roughly $88 billion in collections throughout the country.

According to the Patients Rights Advocate, just 36% of hospitals in the nation are compliant with the current Federal Price Transparency Rule.

A few weeks ago, the Biden Administration announced a new regulation to ban healthcare debt from credit scores, which would help millions of Americans free up and help their credit scores.