Your healthcare needs should be your first priority, not weighing whether or not you can afford medical expenses. You’ve probably experienced your fair share of surprise “out-of-network” costs over your lifetime. Thankfully, changes are finally being made to protect vulnerable people from experiencing unauthorized bills from “out-of-network” providers. Here’s everything you need to know about the No Surprises Act of 2022 and how you can be protected from unethical surprise medical bills.
Surprise Medical Bills
Have you ever received a medical bill that was unusually expensive despite the belief that your insurance should have covered it? This is a perfect example of a surprise medical bill. These typically happen when you receive care from an “out-of-network” provider without your knowledge. You may also receive something known as “balance billing,” which occurs when an out-of-network provider or facility bills you for the difference between the final balance due and the amount that your healthcare plan covered. After recovering from medical treatment, these expenses can be debilitatingly expensive and a true “gut punch” to receive.
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The No Surprises Act
As of early 2022, steps are being taken to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. The No Surprises Act protects people covered under group and individuals’ health plans from surprise medical bills; this includes most emergency care and air ambulance transport (both emergency and non-emergency) that is “out-of-network.” For example, if you were placed in an out-of-network hospital during an emergency, you cannot be charged any differently than at an in-network hospital. The law also protects you from out-of-network bills for non-emergency services at an in-network facility (this sometimes happens when doctors staffing an in-network hospital are out of network.)
New Consumer Protections
Anyone with private health insurance will be protected from the most common tactics of surprise billing. People without insurance qualify for good faith estimates; this is an estimate of expenses for your care upon request, even before your visit. You can also dispute the bill if you feel like details and charges are incorrect. Overall, people with health insurance will be better protected from out-of-network emergency services, out-of-network additional services, out-of-network cost-sharing. Insurance companies and medical providers can deploy ruthless tactics to squeeze consumers for funds, and this new legislation will help guard against those practices.
Work With a Consumer Rights Lawyer
A medical debt attorney specializes in helping those negatively affected by unethical healthcare practices like surprise medical bills. When building a case, it’s important to hire the most experienced and trustworthy attorney at your side.
Our consumer rights lawyers at the Holland Law Firm have experience with surprise medical bills and other areas of healthcare-related debt. If you’ve been negatively affected by surprise medical bills, don’t wait to get help. Contact us today to meet with one of our experienced medical debt attorneys.