New law protects ER patients from ‘surprise bills’
The legislation, sponsored by Assembly man Kevin Ca hill, D-Kingston, focuses on amounts charged by out-of-network hospitals.
A state law has gone into effect that helps protect against “surprise bills” to patients who make out-of-network emergency hospital visits, according to Assemblyman Kevin Cahill.
Cahill, DKingston, said the bill, which he sponsored, was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week.
The measure subjects out-of-network emergency room charges, along with any costs associated with inpatient stays immediately following a hospital visit, to a process known as Independent Dispute Resolution, or IDR, Cahill said.
“Established in 2014 as a mechanism to fight surprise medical billing, IDR has been used effectively to resolve pricing disagreements between healthcare providers and health insurance plans in the event of an out-of-network physician visit,” Cahill’s office said in a prepared statement. “The third-party negotiation removes consumers from the proceedings, precluding them from excessive provider charges, keeping premiums down for everybody.”
Cahill said that when a person “becomes ill or is injured and requires a visit to the emergency room, patients rarely have a choice in which hospital they go to. In many cases, if the patient is forced out of network to receive services, excessive charges are disputed by consumers, the hospital and the insurance company.”
The bill’s state Senate
sponsor, Liz Krueger, DManhattan, said the legislation simply makes sense.
“When New Yorkers go to the hospital in an emergency, they can’t be expected to make sure every procedure is delivered by an innetwork provider,” Kruger said in a prepared statement. “This new law will protect
New York families from outrageous surprise medical bills and help keep overall medical costs down.”
Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of Health Initiatives and co-founder of the group Health Care for All
New York, said that the new law will go a long way toward helping patients.
“From now on, patients will not have to fear big outof-network bills when seeking emergency care at a hospital,” she said.