Both parties back bill to limit surprise medical costs
WASHINGTON — Senior lawmakers of both parties proposed legislation Thursday that would tackle surprise medical bills and other concerns, such as prescription drug costs and uneven vaccination rates.
The draft bill from Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-tenn., and Patty Murray, D-wash., echoes a time when health care issues often led to dialogue and cooperation between political parties. Alexander chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, while Murray is the ranking Democrat.
“We can make progress when both sides are at the table ready to put patients and families first,” Murray said in a statement. Alexander said he wants to bring the bill to the Senate floor in July and get legislation on President Donald Trump’s desk.
Alexander said his bill represents “common sense steps” — more than 30 specific ideas — that are readily achievable.
“Surprise medical bills” are the shockingly high charges insured patients can get hit with when a hospital or doctor is not in their insurers’ network. This month, Trump held a White House event to declare his eagerness to sign a fix into law.
The Alexander-murray legislation would protect patients by limiting their financial responsibility to their own plan’s in-network rates, when they receive emergency care at an out-ofnetwork hospital, or when an out-ofnetwork clinician provides services at an in-network facility.
But the legislation remains a work in progress. Insurers and employers who sponsor workplace coverage favor a set formula for calculating fees, while hospitals and doctors are calling for arbitration.