Following the legal challenge filed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on the rulemaking process for the No Surprises Act, the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing issued the following statement:
“This 11th hour legal challenge by hospital and physician lobbies to block vital patient protections against surprise medical bills should be dismissed outright. It’s a desperate and misguided attempt to weaken the historic safeguards of the No Surprises Act that will lower costs for patients and protect them from predatory private equity firms. The Administration has faithfully followed Congressional intent and the statute throughout the rulemaking process, and in doing so, will ensure that patients and their families are protected from unfair out-of-network charges and benefit from lower health care costs as a result.”
“Leading patient, consumer, union and employer members recently urged the Biden Administration to maintain the protections included as part of the law’s rulemaking process and to implement these reforms as intended on January 1, 2022. Patients have waited far too long for these common-sense policies. There should be no delay in making them a reality.”
Recent Letters of Support on the IFRs
- Dec. 8, 2021: Patient, Consumer, Union and Employer Groups Reinforce Strong Support for Surprise Billing Rulemaking, Urgency in Implementing Patient Safeguards
- Nov. 17, 2021: More than 60 Consumer and Patient Organizations, Union and Employer Groups Call on Biden Administration to Maintain Surprise Billing Protections, Limits on IDR Ahead of Jan. 1
Recent Congressional Statements:
- Oct. 20, 2021: PALLONE & MURRAY VOICE SUPPORT FOR BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S SURPRISE BILLING IMPLEMENTATION RULE
- “We believe the IFR establishes an appropriate framework for disputes to be fairly resolved and is reflective of Congress’ agreement not to mandate a specific payment rate,” Pallone and Murray concluded. “The IDR process strikes the right balance among competing stakeholder requests for consideration of higher and lower payment rates. In addition, it is well established in the legislative language and economic analysis that the QPA was intended to be a driving factor in the IDR entity’s decision. We urge the Departments to move forward with the IFR to finally protect patients from this unjust practice. Further, we urge the Administration to implement the other provisions of the law not addressed in this or previous rules as soon as possible.”
- Nov. 19, 2021: Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Foxx Express Bipartisan Support for Surprise Billing Protections
- “‘As bipartisan leaders of the Committee on Education and Labor and coauthors of surprise billing legislation, we write to express our support for the recent Interim Final Rule (IFR),’ the Members wrote. ‘The IFR protects patients from surprise medical bills and properly balances the interests of all stakeholders while advancing our shared, bipartisan goal of minimizing administrative burdens and reducing health care spending.’ The letter specifically praises the approach of three Departments to resolving payment disputes through a fair independent dispute resolution (IDR) process that ensures that the qualifying payment amount (QPA) is given proper consideration during disputes. The approach adopted by the IFR will ensure consumers are protected from inflationary health care costs and ‘is consistent with legislation reported by the Committee, the text of the statute, and congressional intent,’ the Members wrote.”
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