Top MCs Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, French Montana and Chuck D have teamed up with Power to the Patients to unveil a public service announcement that calls for elected officials to commit to creating a healthcare system with transparency to allow for more honest, affordable, and equitable health care across the country.
Ahead of Congressional voting on healthcare transparency bills in Washington, D.C., the artists are using their voices to advocate for stronger and more meaningful price transparency laws to force hospitals and insurance companies around the country to post actual prices for their services and procedures. According to the announcement, the current federal transparency rules are largely disregarded by hospitals and insurers without consequence from the federal agencies responsible for enforcement.
Additionally, they call out the continued obfuscation of prices by hospitals and insurance companies that solely provide “estimates” or “average prices” instead of actual prices. Public Enemy’s frontman Chuck D puts emphasis on the healthcare situation, calling it “an American humanitarian crisis.”
The advocacy comes after efforts by Power to the Patients and veteran rapper Fat Joe, who together visited the White House on multiple occasions and have met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to express concerns and frustration with the healthcare system and advocate on behalf of patients, families, communities, employees, employers, and unions.
Earlier this year, Fat Joe and Power to The Patients’ joined healthcare transparency efforts by City Council Members and various union groups in New York City, culminating in Mayor Eric Adams signing the Healthcare Accountability and Consumer Protection Act in June 2023. The Act established the nation’s first Office of Health Care Accountability to allow New Yorkers to compare costs charged by hospitals for the same services.
According to the announcement, medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America and, according to the most recent semi-annual study by Patient Rights Advocate, only 36% of hospitals in America are compliant with the current Federal Price Transparency Rule