On July 11, 2019, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee held a markup in which they advanced 10 health care bills, including legislation on surprise/balance billing. This legislation, H.R. 3630, the No Surprises Act attempts to address out-of-network surprise medical bills. The AAA Government Affairs team has been in regular communication with the Energy and Commerce Committee and member offices leading up to the markup to ensure that the ground ambulance industry and AAA members were not negatively impacted by the legislation or any introduced amendments.

Thanks to the attentive efforts of AAA members, staff, and consultants, there was no mention of ground ambulance during the markup of H.R. 3630, the No Surprises Act. While ground ambulance was not mentioned, Rep. Lujan (D-NM) highlighted the air ambulance transparency language that is included in the No Surprises Act and called for it to be strengthened further before this legislation is considered by the full Energy and Commerce Committee.

Over the course of the markup, Subcommittee Chairwoman Eshoo (D-CA) thanked Rep. Lujan for bringing attention to the “extraordinary costs” associated with air ambulance. Rep. Ruiz (D-CA) then expressed his ongoing concerns regarding the balance billing provisions of the No Surprises Act, citing the experience to date under California’s law. Rep. Ruiz asked to continue working with the Committee to address these issues before the bill is considered by the full Committee.  In response, Chairman Pallone (D-NJ) noted that the Energy and Commerce Committee’s approach had bipartisan support within the committee, and that it also had bipartisan support in the Senate HELP Committee. While the Chairman expressed a desire to secure all Members’ support for the bill as it moves through the full Committee, he made no promises to further change the bill.

The educational efforts undertaken during the last several months appears to have helped the Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee to understand the complexities involved in the local control and oversight of ground ambulance services; however, the risk that the Congress could modify this approach to supporting local control remains as the legislation moves forward. The AAA Government Affairs team and Balance Billing Working Group will remain vigilant regarding all balance billing proposals in order to prevent any that would negatively impact AAA members and the ground ambulance industry.