Stop Surprise Medical Bills

Despite the success of the No Surprises Act, certain private equity-backed providers and arbitration middlemen are systematically manipulating the law’s arbitration process — known as independent dispute resolution (IDR) — to extract maximum payments from employers and patients. This ongoing misuse and abuse of the process—continued surges in arbitration filings, sky-high final payments that overwhelmingly favor providers, and growing use of third-party IDR firms—is raising alarms about the consequences for consumer premiums and health care affordability.

Our Mission

Members of the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing, which represent accountable care providers, leading employer groups, and health insurance providers and the tens of millions of people they employ and serve each day, support meaningful solutions to end surprise medical billing that would:

    • Protect patients and families from surprise medical bills sent by out-of-network providers.
    • Maintain fair and equitable payments for providers with a benchmark standard based on local, competitive market-based rates.
    • Help reduce consumers’ health insurance premiums and taxpayers’ costs by avoiding an arbitration process that adds unnecessary cost, delay and bureaucracy to the health system and is particularly harmful for smaller companies.

 

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The Problem

Surprise medical billing—also known as “balance billing”—made it harder for patients to afford necessary medical care, often when they least expect it. Now, with patient protections in place, certain private equity-backed providers and profit-enhancing middlemen are using the arbitration process as a business model to extract profits. This aggressive, profit-driven use of the arbitration process not only inflates costs, but it also undermines the intended goals of the No Surprises Act: to make care more affordable and accessible for patients.

 

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Role of Private Equity

The growing presence of private equity-backed providers is becoming an all too common influence in the health system – and one of the leading drivers behind egregious surprise medical bills that bankrupt families across the country. Out-of-network providers backed by equity firms continue to exploit a market loophole that allow them to charge exorbitant rates at patients’ expense. View the Coalition’s latest advertising on the harmful tactics from private equity firms below and why this practice needs to stop for good at https://stopsurprisebillingnow.com/private-equity/
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The Solution

Everyone in America deserves affordable, high-quality health coverage and care. Surprise medical bills undermine that promise, threatening the health and financial stability of millions of patients each year. Together, we must ensure patients are protected from excessive costs and empowered to make informed choices.

 

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Latest News

Coalition Statement on H.R. 3630 “No Surprises Act”

Jul 11, 2019 |

Ahead of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce’s mark-up of H.R. 3630 “No Surprises Act”, the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing issued the following statement: “Out-of-network providers continue to take advantage of patients when they are at their most vulnerable. It’s not just the surprise from out-of-network bills that is unconscionable – it’s also the cost.

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It’s Not Just The Surprise That Hurts Patients, But The Bill: Why Consumers Need A Fair Benchmark Solution

Jun 28, 2019 | ,

The Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing is proud to be one of the strongest voices calling on policymakers to take urgent action to protect patients from unfair and unreasonable surprise medical bills. These egregious charges from out-of-network providers at in-network facilities have been haunting – and hurting – American families for far too long.

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Take Action

Tell Washington it’s time to protect patients from surprise and unfair medical bills. 

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