COVID Bill to End ‘ Surprise ’ Medical Bills

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — People with private health insurance will see the nasty shock of “surprise” medical bills virtually gone, thanks to the coronavirus compromise passed by Congress. The charges that can run from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars come from doctors and hospitals that are outside the network of a patient’s health insurance plan. It’s estimated that about 1 in 5 emergency visits and 1 in 6 inpatient admissions will trigger a surprise bill. Although lawmakers of both parties long agreed that the practice amounted to abusive billing, a lobbying war between doctors and insurers had thwarted a compromise, allowing the impasse to become a symbol of dysfunction in Washington. “This has been a profoundly distressing pocketbook issue for families for years,” said Karen Pollitz, a health insurance expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “Some of these bills are onerous, and they all strike people as completely unfair.” Related Is Your Organization Leaving Money on the Table?Does Your Current Billing Service Set Your EMS Organization Up for Success?How Ambulance Billing Services Can Increase Revenue and Maximize Compliance The compromise would take patients and their families out of the financial crosshairs by limiting what they can be billed for out-of-network services to a fee that’s based on in-network charges. The amount consumers pay would get counted t...
Source: JEMS Latest News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Administration and Leadership AP News Coronavirus Source Type: news