ASA reaffirms its commitment to protect patients from surprise medical bills

In response to a new Health Affairs article "Out-Of-Network Billing and Negotiated Payments for Hospital-Based Physicians," the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) released the following statement reaffirming its commitment to protecting patients from surprise medical bills.

ASA has been a champion of efforts to ban surprise medical bills, keeping patients out of the middle, and establishing a fair payment mechanism, including an accessible and equitable process in which physicians and insurance companies can address billing disputes.

ASA supports legislative proposals to end surprise medical bills and protect patients. We have endorsed and worked for passage of H.R. 3502, the Protecting People from Surprise Medical Bill Act. H.R. 3502 currently has over 100 bipartisan cosponsors and it is modeled on the New York state law that is lauded in this most recent Health Affairs article.

We look forward to continuing to work with Congress to advance a fair, common-sense solution to surprise medical bills like the successful law in New York."

Mary Dale Peterson, M.D., MSCHA, FACHE, FASA, ASA President