Bipartisan legislation from U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that became law two years ago to end surprise medical bills for Americans went into effect on Jan. 1.
The No Surprises Act, which Sen. Cassidy introduced during the previous congressional session with U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), became law as part of the December 2020 government funding bill, which required that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implement the bill starting Jan. 1, 2022.
“This is a milestone in our effort to lower healthcare costs. Too often patients have been blindsided by surprise medical bills, sometimes for tens of thousands of dollars,” Sen. Cassidy said. “This is a victory for them. This solution is pro-patient and benefits everyone.”
Under the law, patients do not have to pay out-of-network costs for emergency services, post-emergency stabilization services, and non-emergency services provided by an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility, according to a summary provided by Sen. Cassidy’s office.
Instead, patients may only be required to pay in-network costs for such services, the summary says.
“After a harrowing emergency, countless Granite Staters and families across the country have returned home only to be saddled with an unfair medical bill — sometimes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars — because an out-of-network doctor treated them,” said Sen. Hassan. “That’s why I teamed up across the aisle to pass groundbreaking legislation to help ensure that Americans aren’t left on the hook for these outrageous bills, and now these important patient protections for many health care services go into effect.”