Bipartisan senators unveil measure to end surprise medical bills

A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday introduced legislation to protect patients from massive, unexpected medical bills, as momentum grows around the issue.

The legislation, led by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), comes as the House also introduced legislation this week, and President Trump called for action last week.

{mosads}The legislation would protect patients from getting massive, “surprise” medical bills when they get care from a doctor who is not in their insurance network.

“The patient should be the reason for the care, not an excuse for a bill,” Cassidy said at a press conference Thursday to unveil the legislation.

Hassan, a Democrat, noted that she joined Trump at the White House for an event last week to call for an end to surprise bills.

“There is strong bipartisan momentum behind ending the absurd practice of surprise medical bills,” she said. “Senator Cassidy and I were at the White House last week to join the president as he spoke out on the importance of addressing this issue.”

Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) also joined in unveiling the bill on Thursday.  

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate’s health committee, is working on his own proposal with the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), that he hopes to unveil in June.

“We have been trying to take committee leadership’s concerns,” Cassidy said when asked about working with the panel’s leadership.

The bill introduced Thursday would use an outside arbitrator as a back-up to help set the price that insurers must pay medical providers, after the legislation takes the patient out of the middle.

This methodology is one of the points of disagreement, one that industry groups are jockeying over.

The House bill sets a payment rate without using arbitration.