Coalition Warns That Price Controls Won’t Solve Surprise Medical Bills

(Washington, D.C., Monday, June 24, 2019) A coalition of 16 organizations, led by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, today warned members of Congress against pursuing price controls as a solution to surprise medical bills. Instead of adopting proposals for rate setting, a reimbursement cap based on median in-network rates, or bundling and in-network guarantees, the letter suggests a look toward proven solutions like New York’s Independent Dispute Resolution system.

The coalition letter reads, in part:

“Some proposals under discussion advance rate setting as an answer to surprise medical billing. Rate setting will have negative effects for patients while failing to address the reasons why patients receive surprise medical bills, including narrow insurance networks, denied coverage, and high deductible health insurance plans…

Rate setting will drive doctors out of business. This undermines the entire purpose of the drive to end surprise billing, which is removing obstacles from patients who need to see a doctor.”

The full letter is available here.

For additional comments:
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, [email protected]

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