Friday, January 1, 2021
On December 28, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“Appropriations Act”) was passed into law. The Appropriations Act included the No Surprises Act (“Act”), which seeks to protect patients from surprise medical bills in situations where patients have little or no control over who provides their care, including nonemergency services provided by out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, emergency services provided by out-of-network providers and facilities, and air ambulance services. The Act, a rare piece of bipartisan, bicameral legislation, has been a long time in the making, and has undergone multiple iterations. Particularly during the public health emergency, the issue of surprise medical bills is especially pertinent, as the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the occurrence of surprise bills in a time where people are less likely to be able to shoulder the unexpected costs.