Any attempt by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to attach their proposed surprise medical billing language to the emergency COVID-19 Senate package is misguided and would hurt health care access when Americans need it most. As the nation copes with the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers must remain focused on protecting access to emergency medical care – particularly for our most vulnerable populations – rather than impeding it.
The proposed language forgoes any type of data collection necessary to find real solutions to the underlying cause of balance bills and provides an arbitrary threshold of $25,000 as a requirement to enter into any type of arbitration. This threshold compromises the ability of emergency air medical services to continue operations by eliminating any incentive for insurers to reach in-network agreements with air medical providers or pay the true cost of air medical care. The language prioritizes insurance industry profits over the health care needs of patients.
In a time of crisis, Congress must focus on protecting Americans’ health care access and reject any attempt to insert this deleterious language into the emergency COVID-19 package.