Legislation to end surprise billing failed in the Georgia House on March 7, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Five things to know:
1. House Bill 84, sponsored by state Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus, aimed to address situations where an insured patient visits an in-network hospital and then receives an unexpected bill from an out-of-network provider.
2. It would have required medical providers, if asked, to give patients information about which physicians involved in their impending nonemergency hospital procedure are in network, according to the report.
3. Although House Bill 84 failed, another surprise-billing measure, Senate Bill 56, is still up for consideration by lawmakers.
4. The Senate bill, sponsored by state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, primarily focuses on emergency room bills. It would require insurers to pay out-of-network providers using a formula that includes a benchmarking database from nonprofit organization FAIR Health. However, insurance companies argue that those prices they would have to pay are too high, the Journal reports.
5. The state House will now consider the Senate bill.
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