Lawmakers OK Two Surprise Billing Fixes, Seek Compromise
Legislation to protect patients against surprise medical bills is once again gaining momentum in Congress, with two key House committees voting to advance proposals. However, passage of competing bills by the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee also emphasized the policy divide between lawmakers and stakeholders on the main sticking point: how to decide rates for out-of-network providers.
Education and Labor, which approved its bill on Feb. 11 with a bipartisan majority, would set payments for providers by basing them on regional benchmarks, while still giving providers the option of going to arbitration for bills higher than $750. Ways and Means, meanwhile, backed mediation between insurers and providers to set rates, again on a bipartisan vote. That panel also threw in a new twist: a provision designed to rein in private equity firms that have purchased physician practices.
