Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing

Millions of Americans receive surprise, out-of-network medical bills every year, bankrupting families and raising health care costs for all, including employers and taxpayers. The frequency of surprise bills is accelerating: Researchers found the percentage of emergency department visits resulting in an out-of-network bill rose from 32% to 43% between 2010 and 2016.

The Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing, which includes accountable care providers, leading employer groups, unions, and health insurance providers, support meaningful reforms that would:

• Protect patients and families from surprise medical bills sent by out-of-network providers
• Maintain fair and equitable payments for providers with a benchmark standard based on local, competitive market-based rates
• Help reduce consumers’ health insurance premiums and taxpayers’ costs by avoiding an arbitration process that adds unnecessary cost, delay, and bureaucracy to the health system and is particularly harmful for smaller companies

The coalition also is working to limit the growing influence of private equity firms in health care. Out-of-network providers backed by equity firms continue to exploit market loopholes that enable them to charge exorbitant rates for non-network services.