Surprise Billing Advocacy Updates

Two House committees – Ways and Means, and Education and Labor – this week will mark up their own legislation to address surprise medical bills. The Ways and Means markup is Feb.

AHA comments to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor on provisions of the Ban Surprise Billing Act that will be marked up this week.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack responds to the proposal from the House Ways and Means Committee over surprise medical billing.

The AHA is pleased to support the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means legislation, the Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2020. 

This is a collection of Fact Sheets and Talking Points documents that the AHA has released on Surprise Medical Billing Legislation.

Reject any cuts to hospital services as pay-fors

America’s hospitals and health systems remain committed to protecting patients from unanticipated medical bills that they may incur because of gaps in their insurance coverage or as a result of emergencies.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr.

America’s hospitals and health systems are committed to protecting patients from unanticipated medical bills that they may incur because of gaps in their insurance coverage or as a result of emergencies. Unfortunately, unless this proposal is much improved over previous bills that rely on a benchmark rate, it remains highly problematic and would jeopardize patient access to hospital care, particularly in rural communities.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr.

As Congress enters the home stretch for 2019, they are considering a number of key hospital and health system issues as part of year-end legislation.

Members of Congress are in their home districts and states for the next two weeks, and it is an excellent opportunity to talk with your lawmakers about important issues they will consider when they return to Washington, D.C.

Next week, CBS News is slated to air a three-part series called “Medical Price Roulette,” exploring medical costs, including hospital prices. The series is scheduled to run Monday, Sept. 23, through Wednesday, Sept. 25, on both CBS This Morning and CBS Evening News (watch a preview of the series).

AHA comments on provisions of surprise medical billing legislation passed in July by the Energy and Commerce Committee, as we understand your Committee may be interested in considering a similar ap

With Congress back in town and a full slate of health care issues on its agenda, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack, Executive Vice President Tom Nickels and Senior Associate Director of Federal Relations Priscilla Ross hosted a special AHA Town Hall webcast live from the AHA’s Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C., on September 10.

Some policymakers have expressed interest in “network matching” as a solution to surprise medical bills. To date, the only proposal defining such an approach, which was ultimately rejected, was included in the discussion draft of the Senate HELP Committee’s “Lower Health Care Costs Act.”

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee June 19 introduced the Lower Health Care Costs Act (S.1895), legislation to prevent surprise medical bills, reduce prescription drug prices, improve transparency in health care, invest in public health and improve health information exchange.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee in July passed legislation, The No Surprises Act (H.R. 2328), to prevent surprise medical bills.

A number of important legislative and regulatory issues are pending for hospitals and health systems.

AHA comments on provisions of the Reauthorizing and Extending America’s Community Health (REACH) Act.