The Surprise Billing Battle: What You Need to Know

Surprise billing (also known as out-of-network billing) is one of the most important issues facing emergency physicians today. The decisions being made in Washington, D.C., could have a far greater impact on how we care for our patients than even EMTALA did in 1986.

For more than a year, surprise billing has been a central focus of ACEP’s federal advocacy efforts, building on years of state-level advocacy already done on this issue. Much of this conflict over surprise billing is playing out in the media, and insurers have been trying to paint emergency physicians in a bad light. Our public relations team is working diligently to make sure the physician side of the story is fairly portrayed both in the press and in Congress.

We’ve seen a flurry of legislative activity after LAC19. In response to the May 9, 2019, release of the White House‘s principles regarding surprise billing, ACEP President Vidor Friedman, MD, FACEP, said “ACEP shares the administration‘s view that improving transparency is critical to stopping surprise bills … Still, the principles the White House laid out do not go far enough to protect patients.”

On May 17, 2019, we responded to the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 introduced by several senators, saying it would tilt a proposed arbitration process in the insurer’s favor.

The surprise billing debate is changing daily, and ACEP’s advocacy efforts are ongoing. To stay current on what’s happening in D.C..