Surprise Medical Billing
The USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy today convened a panel of policymakers and stakeholders, including the AHA, to discuss its newly released analysis detailing policy approaches to eliminate surprise out-of-network billing and propose solutions.
Seventeen health insurance, employer and consumer organizations today proposed recommendations for federal action to protect patients from surprise medical bills.
Legislative proposals for a Medicare public option could negatively affect patient access to care and significantly reduce payments to hospitals, AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels said during a panel discussion today at America鈥檚 Health Insurance Plans鈥 National Health Policy Conference in鈥
The AHA today unveiled a set of principles to help inform the ongoing federal policy debate regarding surprise billing.
鈥淭he last thing a patient should worry about in a health crisis is an unanticipated medical bill,鈥 said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. 鈥淲e must protect patients from鈥
The 黑料正能量 Association (AHA) is committed to working with policymakers to identify workable solutions that protect patients from surprise bills in certain scenarios. And key leaders in Congress and the Administration want our input. Hospitals and health systems need to be part of shaping鈥
America鈥檚 hospitals and health systems are committed to protecting patients from 鈥渟urprise bills鈥 and support a federal legislative solution to do so. These types of bills may occur when a patient receives care from an out-of-network provider or when their health plan fails to pay for covered鈥
Surprise bills can cause patients stress and financial burden at a time of particular vulnerability: when they are in need of medical care. Patients are at risk of incurring such bills during emergencies, as well as when they schedule care at an in-network facility without knowing the network鈥
The last thing a patient should worry about in a health crisis is an unanticipated medical bill that unintentionally impacts their out-of-pocket costs 鈥 and undermines the trust and confidence that patients have in their caregivers.
We鈥檙e 11 days into 2019 鈥 we鈥檝e returned to a divided government 鈥nd the partial government shutdown continues.