There’s no way around it: if Congress gives up on ending surprise medical billing, they’re choosing private equity firms over patients. For private equity-backed physician staffing firms, surprise medical bills aren’t an accident—they’re a key element of the business model. Wall Street powerhouses like KKR and Blackstone see surprise billing as a lucrative opportunity to turbocharge their bottom line—all at the expense of patients and their families.
That’s why there’s consensus across the country that Congress needs to step up and pass a bipartisan solution to ending surprise medical billing for good.
…Wall Street firms have been flooding states, including NH, with dark money to try to stop Congress from acting. I'll always put Granite Staters first & work in a bipartisan manner to address surprise medical billing, no matter how much money is spent to intimidate me.
— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) September 18, 2019
Nearly 40% of people who go to a hospital receive a surprise bill.
It is clear we need to end surprise billing and protect patients from unexpected, exorbitant charges for out-of-network care. https://t.co/iR0yMbR2SS
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) August 15, 2019
You know what’s wrong with Washington? THIS.
4 in 10 Americans who end up in the hospital or ER will receive a surprise medical bill. We moved — in a bipartisan way — to end this predatory practice.
And now you have special interests pouring💰into blocking progress. https://t.co/csiPqEEuw1
— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet) September 6, 2019
For 3 Congresses, I've intro'd legislation to ban #surprisebilling. No patient should face a diagnosis of bankruptcy with a health diagnosis.
NYT reveals $28 million in dark money to intimidate Congress from protecting consumers is private-equity-backed.https://t.co/JAidbWuQXz
— Lloyd Doggett (@RepLloydDoggett) September 17, 2019
“We’ve started to realize it’s not us versus the hospitals or the doctors. It’s us versus the hedge funds." https://t.co/zP5lOPfE0q
— Maggie Fox (@maggiemfox) September 10, 2019
The groups behind the surprise billing ad blitz. "The choice before lawmakers now could not be more Washington-in-2019: Side with voters getting slammed by these bills, or side with the private equity-backed groups profiting from them." https://t.co/XRRZ6kAo0J
— Atul Gawande (@Atul_Gawande) September 16, 2019
E&C GOP Leader @repgregwalden & Chairman @FrankPallone talk to @KatyTurNBC about their legislation to protect patients from surprise billing – the No Surprises Act.
Also say they are launching bipartisan investigation into private equity firms role in surprise billing pic.twitter.com/LMrJNQe1gD
— Energy & Commerce GOP (@HouseCommerce) September 13, 2019
Surprise billing can happen to anyone! Chair @FrankPallone and RM @repgregwalden explain how their No Surprises Act protects patients.
The Committee leaders also say they are planning to investigate private equity firms that are profiting off of surprise billing. pic.twitter.com/FvmLy3a4Bh
— Energy and Commerce Committee (@EnergyCommerce) September 13, 2019
A dark money group has spent at least $28 million running ads to kill surprise billing legislation. Who’s behind it? Two big physician staffing companies. https://t.co/AkI5C1oih3 @ReedAbelson @julie_creswell
— Margot Sanger-Katz (@sangerkatz) September 13, 2019
The markets help explain why Envision/EmCare/KKR is spending tens of millions to stop surprise billing protections
Their bond yields as Congress discusses patient protections have gotten to 19% – serious default risk
Shows just how dependent they are on surprise billing https://t.co/ausaeAddcf
— Zack Cooper (@zackcooperYale) September 14, 2019
Ending surprise medical bills may not happen in Congress this year. That's exactly what physician and hospital groups want. A+ story from @SusannahLuthi that is chock-full of quotes like these. https://t.co/w1pWpM9qRJ pic.twitter.com/dRKD0RdmeW
— Bob Herman (@bobjherman) August 27, 2019
· Americans increasingly get hit with “surprise” medical bills
· Congress is working on a bipartisan plan to stop those bills
· Corporate medicine has quietly been spending millions to kill it— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 13, 2019
Physician staffing groups that generate large amounts of surprise medical bills are behind Doctor Patient Unity, the dark-money group running $28 million in ads against Congress' effort to crack down on surprise bills. https://t.co/NojUpcI9rN
— Axios (@axios) September 16, 2019
The doctors in Congress are trying to ruin the surprise billing bill by requiring arbitration. No one is going to pay a lawyer $5,000 to fight a $5,000 medical bill. Who really believes the solution to high doctor fees is high lawyer fees, besides doctors and lawyers.
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) September 6, 2019
As lobbyists purporting to represent doctors fight attempts to control surprise medical bills, it’s clear that the force behind the effort is not just medical professionals. https://t.co/W6nY0t3u9J
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 9, 2019
There’s a bipartisan congressional effort to end the practice of surprise medical billing, but a dark money group is spending millions to squash it. https://t.co/mQPKnPGRXy
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 13, 2019
THREAD: The private equity industry often uses aggressive tactics to enrich itself.
The growing problem of surprise medical billing is one of them, as the industry buys up doctors' practices and medical facilities — then bills Americans exorbitant amounts for the same care. 1/14
— Eileen Appelbaum (@EileenAppelbaum) September 10, 2019
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