Newly released numbers from AHIP and Blue Cross Blue Shield of America show the No Surprises Act is preventing 1 million surprise bills a month. This is what the law was intended to do once it went into effect January 1— finally take action and protect consumers from the predatory practice of surprise billing.
This landmark legislation is a critical policy to finally help families be rid of the overwhelming financial hardships surprise medical bills have caused them for years. Without the NSA, millions of families with insurance received surprise out-of-network bills each year, often from providers — such as emergency room physicians and anesthesiologists — that the patient had no choice in selecting for care. And the Biden administration has built on the NSA with rulemaking that will finally protect families from most out-of-network, expensive surprise medical bills while keeping health care costs down and ensuring fair payment for health care services.
“At a time when families are struggling with inflation and rising costs, this new data is incredibly important and shows how successful the No Surprises Act has been at protecting millions of families from financially devastating surprise medical bills,” said Frederick Isasi, Executive Director of Families USA. “We hope the administration will defend the No Surprises Act from the corporate greed behind the lawsuits that are trying to dismantle the law and could make it harder for families to put food on the table, pay for necessities or even stay in their homes.”
Now that the No Surprises Act protections are in effect, we continue to provide resources about the statute. See our resources tab to learn more about the new law and our efforts to keep it strong for consumers. You can also visit the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ website on the law for more information: https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises.
Jane Sheehan, Director of Federal Relations
JSheehan@familiesusa.org