American College of Emergency Physicians
WASHINGTON, DC—The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) strongly supports the No Surprises Enforcement Act, legislation that will hold insurance companies accountable for continued and willful violations of the federal law designed to keep patients out of the middle of billing disputes between payers and providers.
“This legislation takes critical steps to level the playing field and stop insurer bad practices,” said Alison Haddock, MD, FACEP, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). “Insurers consistently refuse to play by the rules, doing all they can to delay payments, or in some cases are outright failing to meet their obligations under current law. This bill will hold bad actors accountable and stop their dangerous, irresponsible abuse of the system.”
With the No Surprises Act (NSA), Congress established a viable framework for resolving payment issues between insurers and physicians that takes patients out of the middle of billing disputes. However, insurers continue to exploit loopholes and undermine the law, stalling payments and creating dangerous delays that threaten the continued viability of physician practices and patient access to care, especially in rural and underserved communities.
This straightforward bill would make critical improvements to enforcement of existing laws, stopping a pattern of insurer bad behavior so that the NSA can work as Congress intended. It establishes the same civil monetary penalties for insurance companies as those that already exist for providers and imposes penalties for late or non-payment after losing the independent dispute resolution process laid out in the NSA. Importantly, this legislation does not affect existing patient protections, nor does it raise out of pocket costs.
This bipartisan, bicameral legislation is led by Reps. Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), John Joyce, M.D.(R-PA), Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA), Bob Onder, M.D. (R-MO), and Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA), and Sens. Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) and Michael Bennet (D-CO).
“This bill is especially important for smaller independent physician practices that are already strained and at risk of closure, in large part due to chronic underpayment by insurance companies,” said Dr. Haddock. “ACEP strongly applauds the bipartisan effort to make sure insurance companies are not given a pass to skirt the law."
