Fat Joe wants hospital price transparency. Here's how he's fighting for it in D.C.

Rapper Fat Joe says, "Millions of people are getting robbed."

In a public service announcement by Power to the Patients, he adds that it's "not by the guys you might think. But by hospital and insurance company executives. They crooks."

That's why the Bronx-born rapper is urging officials in Washington, D.C., for price transparency in health care.

In 2021, an executive order issued by then-President Trump went into effect, requiring hospitals to make the prices of health services public. President Biden later signed an executive order instructing the Department of Health and Human Services to enforce it.

But a 2023 report by the nonprofit Patient Rights Advocate found that most hospitals are not complying with those rules.

Fat Joe told Morning Edition's A Martínez that he has a message to politicians: "Times up. … It's time that you do exactly what you been voted to do: is pass a law that will actually help the American families, give them excellent quality in health care as well as the best price."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can hear this conversation using the audio player at the top of the page.

A Martínez: So tell us, why should hospitals be required to put prices for services somewhere public where people can see them?

Fat Joe: Well, there's a rule now. Donald Trump put [it] into place as a matter of fact. But it's not being enforced. The reason why pricing is so important is because anything else we do in the world comes with a price. And we know exactly what it is. What is the mystery of the hospitals that they can't tell you the price of a procedure? You can look at the three leading hospitals in your area — the discrepancy is incredible. Somebody is going to have an MRI for