Following months of congressional negotiations, on December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a $2.3 trillion piece of legislation that includes $900 billion in federal funding and relief for COVID-19.[1] The legislation also includes the No Surprises Act (“Act”), effective January 1, 2022, which significantly bolsters consumer protections for patients by addressing the circumstance of patients receiving “surprise bills” for health care services.[2] While we expect the Biden administration to issue regulations implementing the Act within the next year, stakeholders should be aware of the Act’s many new obligations on health plans,[3] health care facilities, and health care providers.
Read moreSurprise Medical Billing Protections Coming for Participants in 2022
Beginning in 2022, employer-sponsored health plans will be required to pay providers certain emergency and out-of-network charges that would have otherwise been balance billed to participants.
That is the centerpiece of the No Surprises Act, part of the sprawling Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 27, 2020.
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