The Biden administration is moving to overhaul how health insurers and healthcare providers hash out payment for surprise medical bills, amid heavy criticism of the process.
Regulators proposed a rule on Friday that they say is the result of feedback received on that independent dispute resolution process, or IDR. The changes are meant to make billing disputes more efficient and improve early communication between insurers and providers, the government said.
Starting in early 2022, consumers were protected from the cost of surprise medical bills thanks to the No Surprises Act, which required payers and providers to hash out disputes over out-of-network bills themselves and not leave patients on the hook for any balance. Health insurers and providers now resolve payment disputes by entering into “baseball-style arbitration,” wherein a third-party arbiter picks one payment offer submitted by either side, reports Healthcare Dive. Read more.
