President Biden’s Budget Seeks to Bypass Ground Ambulance Patient Billing Advisory Committee
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Tag: No Surprises Act
Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee Update
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Balance Billing | TX Judge Vacates Portions of NSA IFR
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FAIR Health | Ground Ambulance Services in the United States
From FAIR Health in February 2022
“Currently, no federal law protects consumers against “surprise” bills from out-of-network ground ambulance providers. Some state and local governments regulate ground ambulance surprise billing practices; however, such laws may not apply to all health plans or ambulance providers in an area. Because of the substantial policy interest in ground ambulance services, FAIR Health drew on its vast database of private healthcare claims to illuminate multiple aspects of such services across the nation, including utilization, costs, age, gender, diagnoses and differences across states.”
EMS Provider Comments Needed on the “Surprise Billing” Interim Final Rule
The Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, and the U.S. Treasury Department (Departments) have issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) on “surprise billing” that will take effect September 13, 2021. However, the Departments are taking comments on the IFR. While the Congress expressly excluded ground ambulance organizations from the statute that the IFR seeks to implement, the Departments have included a prohibition on balance billing for nonemergency ground ambulance transports that occur after a patient has been stabilized in a facility.
The Congress established an Advisory Committee to consider the best way to address balance billing in the context of ground ambulance services, and the Departments should wait to be advised by that group before subjecting nonemergency ground ambulance transports to the broader balancing billing prohibition.
It is important that the Departments hear from as many stakeholders as possible opposing this expansion of the law. To help you develop a comment letter, we provided the following template that we ask you to tailor to your experience and organization. Tailored letters will be of greater value to the Department as they consider the rules. At a minimum, please customize the templated language to insert information about who you are and where you operate.
The must be submitted by September 7, 2021.
Administration Releases First Surprise Billing Interim Final Rule
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House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee Takes Action on Balance Billing
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.