Congress Sends Letter to the Administration on “No Surprises Act” Implementation

Last month, Congressmen Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Greg Murphy (R-NC), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), and Joe Morelle (D-NY) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor Julie Su. The letter urged the Administration to take action to ensure the No Surprises Act is implemented properly and address administrative burdens threatening provider viability and access to healthcare. During the March fly-in, NAFEC members met with legislators to highlight this important effort, ultimately receiving support from 35 additional Members.

The letter addressed several key concerns related to NSA implementation, such as inadequate oversight of qualifying payment amount calculations, shrinking provider networks and the impact on patient access, and lack of enforcement and compliance with statutory payment requirements in the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process. The issuance of this bipartisan letter continues to put pressure on the Administration to improve the IDR process so it reduces burdens on providers, ensures patient access to emergency care, and works as Congress intended.