By Madison Harden-Stein and Jack Hoadley
Whereas the federal No Surprises Act does a lot to protect customers from shock medical payments, the legislation has a major hole: customers can nonetheless face giant, sudden payments in medical emergencies when the ambulance that took them to the hospital was out of community. Every year, about 3 million individuals with non-public insurance coverage depend on floor ambulance transport in emergencies — in circumstances once they sometimes haven’t any capacity to decide on a supplier. Multiple of 4 of these privately insured ambulance journeys might end in a shock invoice, leaving sufferers owing tons of of {dollars} out of pocket. In 2021, the common floor ambulance invoice for these with business insurance coverage was $1,093.
In 2024, the Advisory Committee on Floor Ambulance and Affected person Billing (GAPB) issued suggestions for federal reforms to handle the issue. Thus far, federal motion has stalled, however states have taken the lead in defending customers from floor ambulance shock billing. On this weblog publish for the Commonwealth Fund, Madison Harden-Stein and Jack Hoadley discover how states are moving into the hole left by the No Surprises Act. This yr alone, 5 states have enacted new legal guidelines, every experimenting with totally different cost methodologies, service scopes, enforcement, and shopper protections. In complete, individuals in 22 states now have some safety from shock payments for floor ambulance companies.
Learn the complete weblog publish right here.