Analysis: Trump will call on Congress to protect Americans from surprise medical bills
President Trump walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House.
Lawmakers aren't targeting just any medical bills that catch people unaware. They are seeking to curtail medical bills widely regarded as truly unfair because patients couldn’t avoid them despite their best efforts. Sen. Maggie Hassan is working with a bipartisan group of senators on legislation to address surprise medical billing.
Both providers and insurers agree there should be a process to determine payment rates. The goal here is to bridge the gap between the charge from a hospital or doctor and what insurers say they’re willing to pay for out-of-network care. But there are a few— Several previous bills have proposed an arbitration process, where an impartial arbiter examines the figures presented by each side and selects one as the final payment.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, the major health insurers association, favors a set payment method,that an arbitration process could lead to higher premiums. Doctors appear favorably inclined to both methods, but they’ve stress that insurers should be required to contract with a sufficient number of doctors and specialists — a further way to shield patients from encountering an out-of-network physician during a hospital stay.
“Requiring drug companies to level with American patients about their prices is about working toward a system where the patient — not the insurer, not the drug company, not the government but the patient — is the one in control of her health care,” Azar told reporters.OOF: Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she would donate the $4,500 in campaign contributions she has previously accepted from the prominent Sackler family, which owns one of the country’s top opioid manufacturers, Purdue Pharma.
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