The No Surprises Act isn't slated to go into effect until 2022, and millions of Americans will be vulnerable to surprise medical bills in the meantime.
The No Surprises Act, a measure to end surprise medical bills for emergency and scheduled care, was passed in December when then-President Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion year-end spending bill into law.
Currently, 18 states offer comprehensive protections against surprise billing, and 15 states offer partial protections, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
Below are the 17 states that offer no surprise billing protections, where patients are particularly vulnerable to expensive surprise medical bills:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Hawaii
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Click here for an interactive map of how each state protects its healthcare consumers from surprise bills.