The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
Video: Getting Ready for the No Surprises Act - Thought Leaders in Health Law
The No Surprises Act, a law that ended the practice of “balance billing” by certain out-of-network providers, was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 on December 27, 2020. While the law passed...more
On September 26, 2023, the Departments of Health & Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) jointly proposed rules (September Rule) updating the administrative fee and Certified...more
By looking at the events that have transpired since the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which includes the No Surprises Act (the Act), was signed into law, it is clear that the Departments of Health and Human Services,...more
On August 24, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an opinion and order in Texas Medical Association, et al. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services(“HHS”)(“TMA III”). TMA...more
Providers finally obtained court ordered relief to the $350 administrative fee each party was required to pay as part of the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Process under the No Surprises Act. Until the...more
On August 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”), the Department of Labor, and the Department of Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) temporarily suspended the federal Independent Dispute...more
On July 6, 2023, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released the first of five required annual reports on the impact of the No Surprises Act (NSA) on health care markets (the Report)....more
Washington State's Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) is delaying its transition to the federal No Surprises Act (NSA) Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process for at least six months. As a result of this...more
We are not surprised by the continued stop-and-go regarding guidance surrounding the No Surprises Act. Most recently, a Texas court vacated portions of the No Surprises Act’s updated final rule (the final rules were discussed...more
Pressure continues to mount on the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reconsider and revise its August 2022 final rule modifying the No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution (IDR) process. The rule is...more
The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) issued final rules related to the No Surprises Act on August 26, 2022, to be effective October 25, 2022 (Final Rules). These Final Rules...more
In 2020, Congress passed the No Surprises Act (NSA) in an attempt to protect uninsured patients from surprise billing. Some sections of the NSA became effective on January 1, 2022, while other sections are on hold until...more
On August 19, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of the Treasury (DOT), released “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing: Final Rules” (the Rules). The Rules...more
On August 19, 2022, three federal agencies tasked with adopting regulations for the No Surprises Act (“NSA”) issued a highly anticipated Final Rule implementing key aspects of the NSA’s independent dispute resolution (“IDR”)...more
Given the trajectory, it is no longer surprising that the No Surprises Act (the Act) continues its turbulent path through implementation. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, on July 26, 2022, again...more
Five months ago, in TMA v. HHS, et al. (“TMA”), a federal court in Texas struck down portions of a controversial interim final rule (“Rule”) jointly issued by three federal executive agencies (“Departments”) intended to...more
A federal judge in Texas held on February 23 that the federal government’s interim final rule implementing the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process established by the No Surprises Act conflicted with the plain...more
Several provisions of the No Surprises Act took effect on January 1, 2022, including prohibitions on out of network providers balance billing patients for emergency services provided by out of network providers and facilities...more
In a win for health care providers across the nation, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has vacated a key regulation regarding the process for resolving payment disputes between insurers and...more
On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, a federal court in Texas struck down five controversial portions of the interim final rule (“Rule”) jointly issued by three federal executive agencies (“Departments”) that implement the...more
As its name suggests, the No Surprises Act establishes patient protection against most surprise medical bills from out-of-network, emergency service, and air ambulance providers. Two of the major provisions affecting...more
Effective January 1, 2022, new billing protections went into effect that have the goal of providing greater protections for patients against surprise medical bills. As we discussed in our prior blog, the Departments of Health...more
This post reviews Part II of the federal No Surprises Act regulations. In previous publications, we have commented upon the No Surprises Act, and Part I of the regulations. The “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing;...more
The Federal No Surprises Act (“Act”), which goes into effect on January 1, 2022, contains provisions designed to protect insured patients from unexpected hospital and physician bills when they receive emergency services in an...more