The departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury (DOT), and Labor (DOL) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued Part II of the No Surprises Act interim final rule with comment. This rule implements portions of the No Surprises Act, legislation enacted in December 2020 to regulate balance billing by out-of-network providers and to require payers to cover those bills at in-network rates effective Jan. 1, 2022.
The rule addresses several policies of interest to essential hospitals, including:
- the independent dispute resolution process;
- requirements for health care cost estimates for uninsured (or self-pay) patients;
- patient-provider dispute resolutions; and
- externals reviews.
OPM also launched a website providing information about the No Surprises Act, including portals for the federal independent dispute resolution process.
America’s Essential Hospitals is analyzing the interim final rule for comment and will send members a detailed Action Update in the coming days. Stakeholders will have 60 days to comment on the rule once published in the Federal Register.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.