August 22, 2006 -- With an Executive Order aimed at federal agencies that provide coverage to nearly one in every four Americans with health insurance, President Bush today took a major step forward in providing consumers with easy-to-use information about the quality and price of their health care. The information will enable consumers to make informed choices among doctors and hospitals, and it will help support doctors and hospitals that deliver high-quality care and avoid unnecessary health care costs, creating opportunities to improve care and lower its costs.

The Executive Order directs agencies that administer or support health insurance programs to take steps that will result in more complete and open information for consumers. The President said he hopes the Federal action will be followed by similar commitments in the private sector, and in state and local government. He directed Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to work collaboratively with the health care sector to ensure that information provided to consumers is reliable and accurate.

The steps required by today's order include the sharing of information about the quality of care delivered by doctors and hospitals, as well as the prices paid to these providers. The order also requires agencies and their health care contractors to promote the use of interoperable health information technology products, so that data can be easily shared. In addition, it requires agencies to offer insurance options that reward consumers who exercise choice among health providers based on value and quality of care.

Programs administered and sponsored by the federal government represent a significant portion of the nation's health care market, but until recently these programs have not been collaborating extensively with privately-led efforts to improve the availability of information to consumers. Today's Executive Order will result in increased quality and price information for all Medicare beneficiaries, those covered by Department of Defense health programs, Veterans Affairs Administration beneficiaries, and employees and their families covered under the Federal Health Benefits Program. Action by states will be needed to commit federally-supported Medicaid programs to the goals of the Executive Order.

The President said today's Executive Order is a first step in a larger plan to provide open health quality and price information for all American consumers. He invited other employers to make similar commitments on behalf of their employees, including major private employers and states and local governments. And he pledged that the Administration will work with health care providers as well as labor unions, the insurance industry and others to support a reliable and comprehensive system of health quality and price information.

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