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Presented by Obesity Care Advocacy Network
With Daniel Lippman
WHY LAND O’LAKES IS LOBBYING ON BROADBAND ACCESS: When most Americans hear the name
Land O’Lakes, they think butter, not broadband. But the dairy co-op is getting into the connectivity game, or at least using its company resources to expand access in the communities where its employees work. The company back in April retained the lobbying help of a team at
For Surprise Medical Bills, It s the Beginning of the End nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Laws to curb surprise medical bills might be inflating healthcare costs
Michael Ollove, Stateline
New state laws designed to protect patients from being hit with steep out-of-network medical bills may contribute to higher healthcare costs and premiums, some researchers warn.
Lawmakers and advocates who pushed for surprise billing laws say the measures have protected consumers from some of the most egregious bills, which can climb into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But some researchers recently have raised alarms that doctors and other medical providers are leveraging state laws that rely on arbitration to increase in-network fees, thereby raising healthcare costs for everyone.
New state laws designed to protect patients from being hit with steep out-of-network medical bills may contribute to higher health care costs and premiums, some researchers warn.
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.
Image
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.