Articles and Blogs

As of January 1, 2022, providers and facilities must comply with a number of requirements established by the No Surprises Act (the “Act”). CMS recently published several resource documents, as described below, to provide further clarity surrounding implementation of the Act and help providers and facilities better understand their respective compliance obligations. Background The... READ MORE

On December 9, 2021 the American Hospital Association (“AHA”), American Medical Association (“AMA”) along with other health care providers filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging part of the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor and Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (collectively,... READ MORE

Hall Render hosted a webinar on July 29, 2021, Surprise Billing and Price Transparency Update. The following includes a selection of audience questions that our attorneys received during and after the webinar. We revised to avoid duplicate responses and to redact any identifying names/information within these questions and answers. The webinar is available on our website for on-demand viewing. Make sure you are also signed up for our alerts to receive information... READ MORE

On July 1, 2021, the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor and Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (collectively, the “Departments”) published a much anticipated interim final rule (“IFR”) implementing certain provisions of the No Surprises Act (the “Act”). While the IFR addresses some key aspects of the Act, it does... READ MORE

On December 22, 2020, Congress passed a government funding deal, which includes a long-awaited federal fix for “surprise billing.” Most of the new requirements take effect with plan years beginning January 1, 2022, and they apply to group health plans (including self-insured plans) and health insurance issuers of group and individual plans. The statute... READ MORE

Surprise Billing Bonanza in the House On February 7, two House panels released measures aimed at fixing surprise medical bills. The House Ways and Means Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee plan to vote on their bills this week. Lawmakers are trying to move quickly as they hope to include surprise billing... READ MORE

Surprise Billing Continues to Be Hot as More Committees Weigh In The House Ways & Means Committee plans to release its surprise billing legislation this week in preparation for a markup on February 12. The Ways and Means proposal will rely on arbitration for resolving out of network claims and will have to be... READ MORE

Welcome to the new The Week in Washington! This newsletter will publish on Monday to review the past week’s news for Congress and the administration, as well as provide a preview for the upcoming week. Health Care on the Hill – What to Expect in 2020 Since 2020 is an election year, Congress traditionally... READ MORE

House and Senate Panels Announce Surprise Billing Fix On December 8, leaders from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (“HELP”) and House Energy and Commerce committees announced an agreement on surprise billing legislation. The proposal is intended to end surprise billing of patients by creating a new system of dispute resolution that includes... READ MORE

It is no surprise that state and federal legislators are taking action to address the issue of unexpected medical bills, otherwise known in the health care industry as “surprise billing.” Surprise billing generally occurs when a patient receives care at an out-of-network facility (often emergency care) or from an out-of-network provider at an in-network... READ MORE