‘Bitter Pill’ Investigation Yields Better Bill Information

The White House announced Friday that there have been over 100,000 downloads of its Medicare hospital charge data in the first 24 hours of availability.

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The White House announced Friday that there have been over 100,000 downloads of its Medicare hospital charge data in the first 24 hours of availability — a milestone for the administration’s new open data initiative.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order mandating that government data be made available to the public in open, machine-readable formats to foster innovation and economic growth. It could also drive down health care costs: The charge data was released in response to TIME’s Bitter Pill cover story, which revealed that hospitals often overcharge for services provided at a fraction of the cost to patients covered by Medicare.

To view the Medicare charge data, click here.

To read “Bitter Pill,” click here.