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The president used broad language to say that Americans no longer needed to worry about surprise bills, but there are exceptions to the new law that could cost unsuspecting consumers.
The insurance company said that the birth of the Bull family鈥檚 twins was not an emergency and that NICU care was 鈥渘ot medically necessary.鈥 The family鈥檚 experience with a huge bill sent to collections happened in 2020, but it exposes a hole in the new No Surprises law that took effect Jan. 1.
Some practitioners object to the way upfront cost estimates are designed, saying they could affect access to care and are burdensome. Other experts disagree.
The No Surprises Act protects patients from surprise out-of-network bills. But there are caveats. For instance, these protections apply only to care in a hospital. This episode breaks it all down.
The new federal law will provide protection against surprise medical bills for between 6 million and 7 million Californians who are not covered under state law.
Jan. 22 marks the 49th 鈥 and very likely last 鈥 anniversary of the Supreme Court鈥檚 landmark abortion decision, Roe v. Wade. The court鈥檚 conservative supermajority seems poised to overturn later this year the ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Also this week, the Biden administration turns 1, with much of its domestic and health agenda yet unrealized. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of the 19th, and Kimberly Leonard of Insider join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, about what a post-Roe world might look like.
It鈥檚 2022 and the covid-19 pandemic is still with us, as are congressional efforts to pass President Joe Biden鈥檚 big health and social spending bill. But other issues seem certain to take center stage on this year鈥檚 health agenda, including abortion, the state of the health care workforce, and prescription drug prices. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Victoria Knight, who reported the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 episode.
Years in the making, a new federal law against surprise medical bills took effect Jan. 1.
Our crowdsourced investigation of the high, confusing and arbitrary medical bills generated by our health system is set to begin its fifth year in 2022.
Legislative crackdowns on out-of-network bills haven鈥檛 kept specialists from hitting patients with unexpected charges running into thousands of dollars.
Regular use of a more advanced screening method turns a low-cost procedure into a pricier one.
Even before the omicron variant of covid starts to spread widely in the U.S., hospitals are filling up with post-holiday delta cases. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court signals 鈥 loudly 鈥 that 2022 will be the year it rolls back abortion rights in a big way. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
The American Medical Association and American Hospital Association are not arguing to halt the law that protects patients from unexpected bills from providers they didn鈥檛 know were outside their insurance network. Instead, they want to change the rules for the mediators who will settle the dispute between insurers and providers.
The Health and Human Services secretary says the administration has heard complaints from doctors and hospitals about the rules it unveiled for implementing the law to end surprise medical bills. But he says providers who have exploited a complicated system to charge exorbitant rates will have to bear their share of the cost 鈥 or close.
Congress last year shielded consumers from unexpected out-of-network charges, but hospitals and doctors have decried the arbitration plan put forward by the Biden administration for negotiating these bills as favoring insurers. More than 150 members of the House agree.
Democratic negotiators on Capitol Hill appear to be nearing a compromise on President Joe Biden鈥檚 social spending agenda, spurred partly by Democratic losses on Election Day in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hints it might allow abortion providers to sue Texas over its restrictive new ban. But the relief, if it comes, could be short-lived if the court uses a second case, challenging a law in Mississippi, to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature about an emergency bill for a nonemergency birth.
Patients soon will not have to worry about the prospect of these often-costly unexpected bills, a federal law promises. Some experts say the new policy could also slow the growth of health insurance premiums.
Negotiations continue on Capitol Hill over President Joe Biden鈥檚 health agenda 鈥 along with a long list of other items. With Republicans on the sidelines, liberal Democrats delayed a House vote on a Senate-passed infrastructure bill to extract moderates鈥 support for a social-spending bill that includes expansions of benefits for Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Biden administration鈥檚 new rules to prevent 鈥渟urprise鈥 medical bills pleases some health stakeholders and angers others. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Kimberly Leonard of Insider join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Anna Flagg of the Marshall Project about how a century-old report on medical education contributed to racial inequities that persist today.
The Biden administration is weighing how to treat urgent care clinics as part of broad regulations banning surprise, out-of-network medical bills. At the heart of the matter: What counts as an emergency?
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