Resolving Surprise Medical Bills

In a rare but welcome moment of bipartisanship, Congress appears ready to pass legislation protecting US consumers from the scourge of surprise medical bills. Such bills occur when patients lack insurance or have the misfortune of requiring services rendered by an out-of-network provider in emergency circumstances or at times when an in-network hospital has out-of-network physicians practicing at the facility Surprise bills are demands for payments of full charges by these providers, and patients lack protection from these claims since there is no insurance contract in place to address the allowable price and to prohibit balance billing above a contracted fee. Since the “surprise” prices charged are neither approved nor seen by patients in advance, they tend to be...