House Committee to Hold Surprise Billing Hearing

On Tuesday, April 2, the House Education & Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing, Examining Surprise Billing: Protecting Patients from Financial Pain. Surprise billing has become an issue Congress is trying to tackle this session and legislation is being introduced to help address it, especially for those in the post-acute and long-term care setting.

Reps. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to fix an arbitrary Medicare policy that excludes coverage of skilled nursing care for certain patients, resulting in exorbitant and surprise out-of-pocket costs. The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2019 (H.R. 1682 & S. 753) would ensure Medicare covers doctor-recommended post-acute care by counting the time spent under “observation status” toward the requisite three-day hospital stay for coverage of skilled nursing care.

The Society has supported this legislation when previously introduced and works with a large coalition of groups advocating for its passage.

Help urge Congress to pass H.R. 1682 & S.753 by clicking here to send a message with the Society’s grassroots network to your elected officials.