The No-Surprises Act, currently under consideration, would prohibit providers from balance-billing. It would also establish rates for payments from commercial health plans, based on the local market. There is a process (added on July 17) that includes a third-party arbitration process for resolving certain disagreements. 

The main focus of the bill, as with other recent surprise billing legislation attempts, the goal is to protect patients from large, surprise bills, especially from unexpected out-of-network care.

There are several important elements:

• Health plans are required to treat out-of-network services as if they’re in-network in cost sharing cases, for deductibles, and out-of-pocket limits.
• Out-of-network providers are prohibited from “balance billing” patients. Meaning, they cannot bill patients above the in-network cost-sharing limit.
• Sets guidelines for determining how much health plans must pay to the out-of-network provider.

The act was co-authored by  Energy and Commerce Committee leaders Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Greg Walden, R-Ore. It passed the Senate health committee on June 26^th. The basic concept of the legislation, to protect patients by allowing them to settle out-of network payment disputes, is generally supported by hospital and physician groups.

Insurers, on the other hand, are generally in favor of arbitration and payment benchmarks. This may allow reimbursement for out-of-network care.

Reigning in surprise billing is clearly a focus of multiple legislative bodies. It will be interesting to see the changes that occur to the act over the next few months.  Understanding the scope of the at risk payment for providers and developing mitigation strategies may become important as we watch the legislation progress through Congress.