U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, (R-TN-01) says one of his goals before he retires is to pass bipartisan legislation to resolve the issue of surprise medical billing.
As The Tennessee Star reported in November, Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee has also put forward legislation to address surprise medical billing. And members of the National Taxpayers Union and 14 other taxpayer, consumer, and free-market advocates said they oppose Alexander’s legislation.
As reported in July, surprise medical billing happens when a patient receives out-of-network care without his or her knowledge – either in an emergency or during a visit to an in-network facility. Weeks later, insurance companies send bills demanding patients pay money for services they assumed insurance would cover.
“Last year, I was proud to introduce the Protecting People from Surprise Medical Bills Act with Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36) that would protect patients from surprise medical bills and establish an independent dispute resolution (IDR) system to resolve the resulting bill,” Roe said in a press release.
“Under our system, insurers and providers submit an estimate of the cost of care to a neutral arbiter, who then chooses the fairer price. Our model is already in effect in several states, and is proven to be good for patients, providers and payers.”
Roe also said he will focus on other issues, including decreasing the number of veteran suicides, through his work as ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“For every 20 veterans who commit suicide every day, 14 did not reach out the VA for assistance in the two years beforehand,” Roe said in the press release.
“In an effort to ensure we are reaching vulnerable veterans, I will continue fighting for the bipartisan IMPROVE Act, legislation introduced by Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI-01) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06). The original version of this bill would expand services aimed at preventing veteran suicide by extending grants to community entities that provide and coordinate suicide prevention services to veterans and their families. It is absolutely critical in rural areas like mine that we pull in community partners to help be part of the solution for at-risk veterans.”
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Let tepid-conservative Phil Roe (Heritage-70%) focus on how he will spend the last months of his undistinguished career in Congress so long as conservatives focus like a laser on who we will support to replace Phil Roe. With Trump set to easily carry Tennessee next November and neither Republican candidate for U. S. Senate having any record that would lead one to believe they are a conservative the First District Republican primary becomes the most important contest for conservatives this August. Hopefully, ONE of our stalwart conservatives in the General Assembly will throw his hat in the ring so conservatives can throw their full support behind him.
I am not in favor of being forced to submit to an IDR. There is no way on earth a patient would get a fair shake.