On Dec. 27, 2020, Congress passed, and President Trump signed, the No Surprises Act as part of the Appropriations bill. The No Surprises Act, which is a law not guidance, goes into effect for plan or policy years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2022.
The surprise billing legislation establishes federal standards to protect patients from balance billing for defined items and services provided by specified doctors, hospitals and air ambulance carriers on an out-of-network basis. The federal law applies to individual, small group, and large group fully insured markets and self-insured group plans including grandfathered plans. The legislation caps patient cost-sharing for out-of-network items and services at in-network levels and requires providers to work with insurers and health plans to negotiate remaining bills. If the insurer/health plan and the provider are unable to reach agreement, an Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, sometimes called arbitration, was established to determine the reimbursement amount.
There are federal rules and processes yet to be developed, and questions about scope and applicability as it relates to state laws still to be answered. We will continue to update our customers as more is known.