As lawmakers work on a legislative fix for surprise medical bills, they should ensure that the solution does not put rural healthcare at risk, argued Judy Baker, a former member of the Missouri House of Representatives and former regional director for HHS.
Congress is considering various proposals to protect patients from surprise medical bills that occur after they unintentionally receive out-of-network care in emergency situations or at in-network hospitals.
Some proposals include a dispute resolution process, such as arbitration, for out-of-network payments between physicians and insurance companies. Another idea under consideration is a benchmarking approach to determine and set these payments.
In an opinion piece for The Hill, Ms. Baker said she supports an independent dispute resolution process but opposes benchmarking because it "doesn't account for the simple truth that the cost and complexity of providing clinical care … varies wildly in different regions," and "could potentially be devastating to rural healthcare."
She said surprise billing "doesn't care about party lines," as it affects all patients, particularly the most vulnerable patients who live in rural areas where healthcare access is limited.
Therefore, she argued, federal lawmakers "must be sure that whatever solution they ultimately pass does not make a bad situation worse by threatening access and affordability for any patients, especially those who already face often-insurmountable barriers to care."
Read Ms. Baker's full piece here.
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