Washington, D.C., July 2, 2025 – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) today submitted recommendations in response to the Request for Information on how to implement the prescription drug machine-readable file (MRF) disclosure requirements under the Transparency in Coverage (TiC) Final Rule from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury.
“During his first administration, President Trump began the process of mandating transparency in the health care industry. These efforts reflect a simple belief shared by ERIC member companies: transparency helps lower health care costs and improve the quality of care,” said ERIC President and CEO James Gelfand. “As health care costs continue to soar, ERIC member companies need transparency to make informed decisions about how health care dollars are spent. Improving access to drug pricing information through public disclosure of negotiated rates and historical net prices is essential, and we look forward to working together to enhance access, affordability, and value in health benefits.”
ERIC’s recommendations reflect insights from ERIC’s January 29, 2020, comments on the TiC Proposed Rule and a March 2025 employer group letter highlighting prescription drugs as a significant, often opaque cost driver in employer health plans.
The recommendations focus on:
- Standardizing reporting requirements for hospitals and insurers,
- Increasing enforcement and penalties when providers don’t adhere to transparency practices,
- Ensuring employers have full access to their own claims data,
- Integration of quality metrics related to safety, effectiveness, and long-term health outcomes, and
- Shielding employers from being penalized if their health insurance carriers fail to comply with transparency regulations.
ERIC is a national advocacy organization exclusively representing the largest employers in the United States in their capacity as sponsors of employee benefit plans for their nationwide workforces. With member companies that are leaders in every economic sector, ERIC is the voice of large employer plan sponsors on federal, state, and local public policies impacting their ability to sponsor benefit plans. ERIC member companies offer benefits to tens of millions of employees and their families, located in every state and city across the country.
Click here to read ERIC’s Request for Information letter.