Hospitals will be required to post online a list of their standard charges under a rule finalized Thursday by the Trump administration.

While hospitals are already required to make this information public on request, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the new rule would require the info be posted online to "encourage price transparency" and improve "public accessibility."

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Starting Jan. 1, hospitals will be required to update the information annually.

The CMS said it is also considering how to "allow consumers to more easily access relevant healthcare data and compare providers."

Increasing price transparency has been a priority for the administration as a way to drive down health-care costs.

"This is a small step towards providing our beneficiaries with price transparency, but our work in this area is only just beginning," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a speech last month. "Price transparency is core to patient empowerment and making sure American patients have the tools they need so they can make the best decisions for them and their families."