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.
Patient Blindsided By $11,000 Surprise Medical Bill
As Congress considers proposals to address surprise medical billing, patients across the country continue to bear the brunt of this growing affordability problem. The latest example: after recovering from a double lung transplant, Tom Saputo was blindsided by an...
New York Tried Arbitration. Health Care Costs Went Up.
As Congress pushes forward on a solution to surprise medical bills, KHN's Rachel Bluth profiled New York's arbitration model and the significant cost increases facing patients under this flawed approach. Highlights from the article - To End Surprise Medical Bills, New...
Patients Protected, Providers Paid: Data From Three Years of California’s Compromise to Stop Surprise Medical Bills
by Anthony Wright, Executive Director, Health Access California Three years ago, on September 26th, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 72, a measure to prevent “surprise medical bills” when a patient goes to an in-network hospital or other...
STAT Opinion: We need benchmarking, not arbitration, to quell surprise medical billing
Below is an excerpt from STAT. We need benchmarking, not arbitration, to quell surprise medical billing By James Rickert, October 7, 2019 By ending the financial distress and anger that patients can experience when hit with surprise medical bills, and by guaranteeing...
Bloomberg Editorial Board: “The problem is readily solvable”
Bloomberg's editorial board weighs in on value of a local, market-based benchmark to end surprise medical billing for good. Congress Can Act Now to Stop Surprise Medical Bills Many health-care questions are difficult and divisive. This one shouldn’t be. By The...
Patients Protected, Providers Paid: Data From Three Years of California’s Compromise to Stop Surprise Medical Bills
Below in an excerpt from Health Access. Read the full report here. AB 72 took effect on July 1, 2017, and now, over two years later, the data is clear: The law is working as intended by consumer advocates, protecting patients from physician balance billing, while...
CBO: Fix backed by doctors for surprise medical bills would cost billions
Below is an excerpt from The Hill. A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis finds that a rival approach backed by doctors groups for protecting patients from getting massive “surprise” medical bills would increase the deficit by “double digit billions” of dollars....
Coalition Statement on New CBO Score for H.R. 2328
September 19 (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Following the release of the Congressional Budget Office’s latest estimates on the cost associated with an arbitration proposal included in H.R. 2328 – Reauthorizing and Extending America’s Community Health Act, the Coalition Against...
ICYMI: Fix Surprise Billing and Make Health Care More Affordable
Below is an excerpt from a Morning Consult Op-Ed by D. Taylor and James Gelfand Employers provide health benefits to over 181 million Americans who overwhelmingly like and want to keep this coverage. We recognize, however, that rising prices – particularly...
Something Fishy: Out-of-Network Providers & Their Surprise Billing Red Herring
When it comes to ending surprise medical billing, we know that a fair benchmark standard based on local market rates is the best way to provide safeguards for patients and their families during health emergencies while ensuring that providers are reimbursed at a...