Davids Joins Local Patient and Health Advocates to Applaud New Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills

Today, Representative Sharice Davids joined a Kansan impacted by unexpected medical bills and other health advocates to applaud newly-enacted consumer protections against surprise medical billing practices. Created by a 2020 law known as the "No Surprises Act," which also included Davids' original legislation to promote insurer transparency so that patients don't unintentionally receive out-of-network care, these protections took effect on January 1, 2022.

A full recording of the press conference can be found HERE.

"Unexpected medical bills have burdened far too many Kansans—but help is here. These new protections will ensure that seeking emergency medical attention doesn't lead to unexpected financial ruin," said Davids. "Health care is expensive enough as it is. We need to continue working on solutions like this that make health care coverage easier to understand and more affordable for all Kansans."

"For cancer patients like myself, diagnosis comes with a tremendous mental and physical battle," said Heather Rubesch, Prairie Village resident and cancer survivor. "Worry about surprise medical bills should not be part of that battle. Concerns about financially ruining our families should not delay or jeopardize our care. The benefit of this law is it is a first step in allowing patients to focus on what is best for their health and away from being stressed about what the impact will be on their budget."

"The cost of health care continues to be one of the largest barriers to health for people and families in both Kansas and Missouri, if they have insurance or not," said McClain Bryant Macklin, Health Forward Foundation Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives. "Unanticipated health care bills compromise people's ability to pay for other household priorities, like healthy food and safe housing, and often threaten individual economic security by contributing to debt. The No Surprises Act protects people who receive out of network care that they did not choose and makes medical costs more transparent. Our communities are strongest when people receive the care they need without facing unexpected financial burden. Health Forward applauds Congress, and Congresswoman Davids in particular, for protecting the financial stability of patients."

"The No Surprises Act is a starting point to improve health care cost transparency, eliminate surprise billing and provide avenues for disputing costs," said Brenda Sharpe, REACH Healthcare Foundation President and CEO. "Both insured and uninsured Kansans struggle with medical debt, a leading cause of bankruptcy. The high cost of health care, unaffordable copays, out-of-network costs, confusing billing practices and other factors are all contributors. While more work is needed to stabilize health care costs, REACH supports the new protections for patients included in the No Surprises Act, and we appreciate Congresswoman David's consistent efforts to protect healthcare consumers."

A study by the University of Chicago found that more than half of American adults have been surprised by a medical bill they thought would be covered by their health insurance. In December 2020, Davids voted to pass the bipartisan No Surprises Act, which directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to create protections against these financially devastating and unexpected bills. The protections, which went into effect on January 1, 2022:

• Ban surprise billing for emergency services, regardless of where they are provided.
• Ban high out-of-network cost-sharing for services. Patient cost-sharing cannot be higher in-network prices.
• Ban all out-of-network charges for ancillary care (like an anesthesiologist or assistant surgeon) provided at an in-network facility.
• Ban other out-of-network charges without advance notice. Before a provider can bill at a higher out-of-network rate, they must provide patients with a plain-language notice explaining that patient consent is required to receive out-of-network care.

The No Surprises Act included a version of Davids' bill requiring that health insurance companies to update their directories of in-network providers every six months. Prior, there were no federal laws mandating that insurance directories stay updated with a list of doctors, hospitals or other providers that are in-network and covered by an insurance policy. As a result, patients could see a doctor that their insurance directory says is in-network, only to find out that the provider is out-of-network when they're hit with an unexpected bill.

Davids is a fierce advocate for making health care affordable and accessible to all Kansans. She introduced legislation earlier this year to end a health insurance billing practice that can burden new parents with unexpected medical bills. Davids has also called for a federal strategy to close the Medicaid gap in states like Kansas, extending coverage to 160,000 uninsured Kansans, and pushed to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prices on prescription drugs.