From January 3, 2022 post.
In case you missed it, crucial patient protections that U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan secured to help end surprise medical billing went into effect on January 1. Moving forward, if Americans receive a suspected surprise medical bill, they can call a new Department of Health and Human Services national hotline at 1-800-985-3059.
Senators Hassan and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) successfully passed into law the No Surprises Act as part of the December 2020 government funding bill, which required that the Department of Health and Human Services implement the bill starting January 1, 2022. The bill protects patients from having 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.
See below for coverage highlights in Seacoast Current:
NH Sen. Maggie Hassan’s “No Surprises Act” Becomes Law in New Year
By Dan Alexander
A law that took effect with the new year ends "surprise" hospital bills for people hospitalized in emergencies thanks to a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
The "No Surprises Act" co-sponsored by Hassan and Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) will end the practice of sending expensive bills to those who are hospitalized in a facility outside their health provider's network that they did not choose. Patients can now only be required to pay in-network costs for these services.
Patients are also protected from post-emergency stabilization services and non-emergency services.
The act was part of the government funding bill signed by President Donald Trump in December, 2020.
“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," Hassan said in a statement. "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." […]
Original source can be found here.
