Why Ambulances Are Exempt From the Surprise-Billing Ban
The welter of providers, layers of state and local regulation, and lack of information about costs made lawmakers hesitant to take up the issue. But that may change.
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Many people who need an ambulance ride to the hospital will find themselves faced with an out-of-network bill for that service.Credit...Tim Gruber for The New York Times
When Congress passed a law banning surprise medical bills on Monday, it made a notable exception: ambulances.
Ambulances have the highest out-of-network billing rate of any medical specialty, meaning most rides can result in a surprise bill. The new federal law will protect patients from the bills of out-of-network doctors unexpectedly involved in their care. Those protections will not extend to the ambulance trip needed to get to the doctors.