Category: Health reform

The No Surprises Act and Preemption of State Balance Billing Protections

The No Surprises Act of 2020 sets up a new national framework to protect patients from surprise out-of-network medical billing. There have been numerous questions about whether and how the new federal law will preempt existing state protections. CHIR experts have prepared a handy fact sheet to walk through the nuances.

New Georgetown CHIR Report: Taking the Disputes out of Dispute Resolution

The U.S. Congress enacted the No Surprises Act in 2020 to protect patients from surprise out-of-network medical bills. Now the federal agencies need to set up a process to resolve disputes between these providers and insurance companies. CHIR experts examine the experience in four states with similar dispute resolution programs and share lessons that can be applied at the national level.

Workplace Wellness Programs Have Overlooked Health Equity

One of President Biden’s first executive actions was to require the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to withdraw regulations governing workplace wellness programs. CHIR’s Julie Zuckerbrod considers how these programs can exacerbate racial and ethnic inequities in health care access and outcomes, and opportunities for the Biden administration to advance equity-focused regulations.

Expanded Coverage For COVID-19 Testing Must Include Limits On Costs

President Biden has issued an Executive Order likely to expand the mandate for private insurers to cover, and waive cost-sharing, for COVID-19 testing. However, the Brookings Institution’s Loren Adler and Sabrina Corlette argue in a new blog post for Health Affairs that Congress will also need to act to ensure that the mandate doesn’t encourage price gouging by providers, and to fully eliminate cost barriers to universal testing.

The No Surprises Act: Implications for States

In the waning days of 2020, Congress enacted the No Surprises Act, which provides, for the first time, protections for consumers against surprise bills from out-of-network medical providers. The legislation has numerous implications for states that have their own balance billing protections, as well as for those that do not. In their latest Expert Perspective article for the State Health & Value Strategies program, JoAnn Volk and Sabrina Corlette review some of the more critical issues state regulators will need to consider as this new federal law is implemented.

Unpacking The No Surprises Act: An Opportunity To Protect Millions

Congress included the No Surprises Act in the omnibus spending bill that was passed and signed into law by President Trump on December 27, 2020. The bill protects patients from unexpected bills for out-of-network emergency and other services consumers are unable to agree to in advance. Georgetown experts Jack Hoadley, Katie Keith, and Kevin Lucia unpack the legislation in a blog post for Health Affairs.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the individual blog post authors and do not represent the views of Georgetown University, the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, any organization that the author is affiliated with, or the opinions of any other author who publishes on this blog.