Now, many surprise medical bills are poised to become a thing of the past, thanks to the No Surprises Act. Here's what it means:
White House Mandates Pfizer Vaccines for Millions of Citizens ...Before the FDA Clinical or Safety Reviews Have Been Made PublicThe law requires that private health insurance companies cover certain out-of-network bills and apply consumer copayments or other costs as if the care had been delivered by in-network providers.
“With this new law, my advice is to be sure that you never sign paperwork allowing an out-of-network provider to balance bill you,” Gross said. “You might see hundreds of thousands of dollars billed to you after completion of the surgery [or] procedure.” If you’re asked to sign a consent form that allows the provider to balance bill you, the new law requires that the provider give you an estimate of charges 72 hours in advance unless the services are scheduled sooner.
It will be up to providers and health plans to identify which bills are subject to No Surprises Act rules. That means that if you get a bill that should have been protected by the No Surprises Act, you’ll have to figure that out for yourself and work to hold the provider and health plan accountable.