Two chambers of commerce, the Chamber of Commerce the United States of America and the Tyler (TX) Area Chamber of Commerce, filed a lawsuit on August 10, 2021, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against the United States departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury to block the implementation of two provisions contained in the federal regulations entitled Transparency in Coverage (“Rule”). 

The first challenged provision requires health plans to post on a website internal pricing data, including allowed amounts, in-network rates, and the negotiated rates for all services and the “historical net price” of prescription drugs, in “machine-readable” (searchable) files. The second provision being challenged requires the inclusion of the “historical net price” of prescription drugs in the machine-readable files. The provisions are set to go into effect for “plan years” beginning after January 11, 2022. Another major provision of the Rule, the one requiring insurers to provide “cost-sharing information” to individuals upon request via a website or in paper form, is not being challenged in the lawsuit.