House lawmakers on Dec. 10 examined how federal regulations and limited data access are contributing to healthcare costs and slowing the adoption of new technologies. Witnesses argued that current policy structures discourage long-term prevention, misalign incentives and hinder the potential of AI-driven tools.
The Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs and the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services held a joint hearing titled “Lowering the Cost of Healthcare: Technology’s Role in Driving Affordability.” Members and witnesses discussed how regulations under the Biden administration and structural elements of the Affordable Care Act have contributed to rising costs, and how Congress could promote private-sector innovation to lower those costs.
Here are five key takeaways from the hearing:
- Darius Lakdawalla, PhD, chief scientific officer at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, said Medicare Advantage’s risk-adjustment model discourages preventive care by insulating insurers from the long-term costs of illness. He cited academic research showing that including pneumonia in risk adjustment coincided with reductions in influenza vaccinations, and argued that short-term incentives in provider payment models contribute to underuse of preventive interventions.
- Data access barriers were another key focus. Ziad Obermeyer, MD, a health policy researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, said U.S. researchers face “layers of permissions and approvals” that delay access to clinical data—barriers he described as more onerous than European rules. He said his team had to conduct AI research in Sweden due to these restrictions and showcased a machine-learning tool developed to predict sudden cardiac death. He testified that the system is significantly more accurate than current clinical methods and could reduce the use of defibrillators that often never activate.
- Regulatory frameworks and misaligned incentives were repeatedly cited as drivers of cost and waste. Chris Jacobs, founder of Juniper Research Group, argued that the ACA failed to reduce premiums as promised and contributed to rising costs. He said individual health insurance premiums more than doubled in the ACA’s first four years and that regulatory mandates discourage insurers from covering the sickest patients. Mr. Jacobs also pointed to significant waste in the healthcare system and called for greater price and quality transparency.
- Brian Whorley, CEO of Paytient Technologies, called on Congress to enable real-time tools that help patients—especially seniors—access medications at the pharmacy counter. He said this technology already exists but requires regulatory flexibility to scale, and described 2025 as a “transformational” year in improving care access for nearly 20 million people.
- Lawmakers signaled interest in streamlining data access, supporting preventive-care innovation, detecting fraud in federal health insurance exchanges, and advancing technologies that could reduce clinical waste and long-term costs. Several members praised deregulatory approaches under the Trump administration and criticized current regulations as barriers to innovation.
