No Surprises Act Implementation Positive Sign for Patients Hurt By Surprise Bills

Washington, D.C. — The Biden Administration on Thursday released the third regulation to implement the No Surprises Act, which Congress passed last year to protect patients from surprise bills. Millions of patients receive surprise medical bills each year through no fault of their own, often exposing them to high out-of-pocket costs that are unaffordable. In light of this development, Erica Socker, Arnold Ventures’ Vice President of Health Care for Payor Reform, issued the following statement:

“We applaud the Administration’s continued effort to implement the law in a manner that both protects patients from the indefensible practice of surprise medical billing and reduces health care costs. This rule takes a very strong step toward achieving these objectives. 

“We appreciate that the rule includes strong guardrails to limit the ability of out-of-network providers and private equity firms to abuse the independent dispute resolution process to extract higher prices. 

“The rule outlines a predictable arbitration process and firmly establishes the qualified payment amount as the primary factor in determining payment. This will ensure the law reduces health care costs for consumers, employers, and the overall health care system, consistent with the objectives Congress intended.”