That sinking feeling when an unexpected, sky-high medical bill lands in your mailbox – it’s a universal experience for many. Welcome to the world of “surprise medical billing,” a frustrating byproduct of our complex healthcare system. Thankfully, new federal protections are in place to shield consumers. But what happens when a surprise bill still sneaks […]
A new study by the health care system reveals a significant gap in consumer healthcare rights. Despite attempts to curb surprise medical bills, a large portion of insured Americans are still receiving unexpected charges. Adding to this problem is the high rate of coverage denials, leaving patients with substantial out-of-pocket costs and causing financial hardship […]
The federal No Surprises Act (NSA) has generated millions of complaints but serves to protect consumers from unexpected out-of-pocket healthcare costs, according to a new survey. AHIP, a U.S. health insurance trade group, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) released a report that estimates the NSA prevents more than 1 million surprise bills […]
The AHA and American Medical Association yesterday filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a Texas Medical Association lawsuit claiming the revised independent dispute resolution process for determining payment for out-of-network services under the No Surprises Act skews the arbitration results in commercial insurers’ favor in ways that violate the compromise Congress reached in the […]
The federal No Surprises Act (NSA) prevented more than 2 million surprise medical bills for the first two months of 2022 – far more than federal regulators initially estimated. If the trend continues, the law will block more than 12 million surprise bills to patients this year, according to a projection from AHIP and the […]
Physicians in a hospital’s emergency department (ED) collected significantly more of the charged amount for likely surprise medical bills compared to other patient cases, a new study in Health Affairs reveals. In the event of a likely surprise medical bill, physicians collected 65 percent of the charged amount compared with just 52 percent for other cases. Researchers also […]
Ending surprise medical bills has risen to a national priority with bipartisan political interest. In January, President Donald Trump directed Cabinet officials to find a solution, and multiple congressional bills were proposed in the last Congress with the same goal. Surprise medical bills consist of unanticipated charges from out-of-network clinicians—often when the facility or primary physician is […]
The high cost of medical care is giving some Americans sticker shock. Annual health care spending in the U.S. is estimated to be $3.5 trillion. Hospital costs make up almost a third of that total. And a portion of those costs come as a big surprise. Whether intentional or due to careless mistakes, “surprise” medical charges are […]








