A Market-Based Approach to End Surprise Billing
As policymakers look to put an end to surprise medical billing, there is growing recognition that a fair benchmark standard based on local rates of care is the best way to ensure fair and equitable treatment for health care providers, consumers, employers, and taxpayers. A local benchmark standard would align out-of-network payments to existing local, in-network market rates, which are especially important for small and rural hospitals that play such a vital role for the families they serve. Check out the resources below to learn more about why a local benchmark is the best way to solve surprise medical bills.
Private Equity Firms Spent +$53 Million Last Year To Kill Surprise Billing Reforms
With millions of Americans still facing the threat of bankrupting surprise medical bills, Bloomberg profiles the onslaught of private equity money in 2019 that stalled the hope of a solution for consumers. The article notes that, “No advocacy group spent more than...
ICYMI: New Analysis Shows Surprise Billing Charges Far Exceed Negotiated Rates, Adding $40 Billion in Annual Costs
Last month, a new analysis from Yale University’s Zack Cooper, Hao Nguyen, Nathan Shekita and Fiona Scott Morton zeroed in on some of the out-of-network providers and specialists who have built up a track record of sending surprise medical bills to patients. Not...
(Boston Globe) Ending surprise billing: A moral test for physicians
Below, see highlights from an op-ed published in the Boston Globe: Ending surprise billing: A moral test for physicians by Ashish K. Jha, M.D., MPH. To read the full piece, click here. "Most people, quite reasonably, think that if the hospital is in-network,...
Coalition Urges Congress to Maintain Benchmark Provision As Surprise Billing Safeguard, Avoid Arbitration
Following the announcement on a new surprise medical billing proposal, the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing issued the following statement: “Consumers deserve solutions that protect them from surprise medical bills while keeping costs low. The Congress and...
Do They Or Don’t They? It Sure Looks Like Private Equity Firms Balance Bill Consumers
Recently, the private equity companies behind the most egregious surprise billing practices have tried to distance themselves from their bankrupting charges. They say they aren’t balance billing patients, but their actions suggest the exact opposite. We’ve been...
While You Were Carving Turkey… Private Equity Firms Were Digging In For More Profits From Patients
While you were preparing your Thanksgiving feast, ProPublica published a harrowingnew investigation about aggressive debt collection lawsuits from TeamHealth against low-income patients struggling to pay staggering bills. Since 2017, Southeastern Emergency Physicians,...
White House: We’re ready to bring an end to surprise medical bills, is Congress?
Below is an excerpt from an op-ed published in USA Today. To view the full op-ed, click here. White House: We're Ready To Bring An End To Surprise Medical Bills, Is Congress? (Nov. 27, 2019) By Joe Grogan, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council After...
Health Affairs: Private Equity and Powerful Physician Groups Raise Another Distraction
Below is an excerpt from Health Affairs. To view the full post, click here. Health Affairs: Private Equity and Powerful Physician Groups Raise Another Distraction (Nov. 19, 2019) By Hunter Kellett, Alexandra Spratt, Mark E. Miller, Arnold Ventures This summer,...
A Benchmark Is Already Working In The Largest State In The Country. California Lawmakers Want To See It Go Federal.
Three years after the passage of AB 72, California’s surprise billing law has proved that a fair, local, benchmark solution can stop surprise medical bills while improving health care affordability for hardworking families. Recently, the New York Times examined the...
Hospital sticker prices can rise faster than inflation
Below is an excerpt from Reuters. Click here to read the full story. Reuters: Hospital sticker prices can rise faster than inflation Nov. 11, 2019 By Lisa Rapaport U.S. hospitals’ sticker prices for two common sources of surprise medical bills have climbed far faster...