Lawmakers urge regulators to implement No Surprises Act dispute resolution as intended

Nearly 100 bipartisan House members led by Reps. Thomas Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, last week urged the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury to ensure their rulemaking for the No Surprises Act reflects congressional intent for a balanced process to settle payment disputes between health plans and providers.
  
“The dispute resolution process established in the No Surprises Act prevents artificially low payment rates that would incentivize insurance companies to keep providers out of their networks,” the letter notes. “… To match Congressional intent, your implementation of the law should ensure an [independent dispute resolution] process that captures the unique circumstances of each billing dispute and does not cause any single piece of information to be the default one considered.”

The lawmakers also emphasized the need to provide sufficient time for public comments and evaluation through proposed notice and comment rulemaking.