On Dec. 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 into law. The Act includes a $900 billion coronavirus relief package that provides funding for unemployment benefits, direct economic payments to individuals, vaccine distribution and rental assistance. It also includes the No Surprises Act, a ban on surprise medical bills, which takes effect beginning in 2022.
Surprise Medical Bills
Surprise medical bills occur when patients unexpectedly
receive care from out-of-network health care providers. For example, a patient
may go to an in-network hospital for treatment, such as surgery or emergency
care, but an out-of-network doctor may be involved in the patient’s care.
Patients often cannot determine the network status of
these providers during treatment in order to avoid the additional charges. In
many cases, the patient is not involved in the choice of provider at all.
No Surprises Act
The Act applies to surprise bills from doctors, hospitals
and air ambulances. It will prohibit these providers from billing patients who
have health coverage for unpaid balances. Rather, providers will have to work
with the group health plan or health insurance issuer to determine the appropriate
amount to be paid by the plan or issuer, under the methodology provided in the
Act.
The Depts. of Health and Human Services, Labor and the
Treasury will work together to issue regulations regarding this methodology and
other requirements of the Act.
Better Business Planning, Inc. will continue to keep you updated as information becomes available on the details of the law.
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