Patients will benefit from a new law that took effect to start this year, making it illegal for doctors and medicial institutions to send surprise bills to patients. It’s estimated that 10 million surprise bills are sent to patients, usually when they have no choice but to use an out-of-network provider, often during emergency room visits.

“When you're lying on the table there with that big bright light in your face about to go under, you're not necessarily thinking, Hey, are you in my network?,” says Zoe. Steven adds, “It's not even like you could say, wait a minute before we start, are you in my network? But the good news is surprise medical bills are now, surprise, illegal.”

Among the highlights in this episode:

1:23: Latest on COVID and Omicron

1:55: New learnings on cloth masks

2:11: New information that Omicron appears in a person’s throat and not the nose

2:54: Procedures for school safety and teachers calling in sick

3:27: At home tests reimbursable starting January 15

4:23: Surprise medical billing is now illegal

5:56: 10 million surprise bills are typically sent out in a year

6:08: The surprise bill plight for the chronically ill

6:46: Surprise bills have exceeded $20,000 at a time

7:16: What’s behind the No Surprises Act

7:44: Example of how the new law protects patients in the emergency room

8:51: Example of how the new law partially protects patients using ambulances

9:38: Example of how the new law protects patients during routine hospital procedures

10:56: The phone number to call if you have a problem is 1-800-985-3059

11:03: Could patients still get a surprise medical bill?

12:19: How is this new law being enforced?

13:15: What should you do if you receive a surprise bill?

13:49: What did our co-hosts Steven and Zoe learn from this episode?

Contact Our Hosts

Steven Newmark, Director of Policy at GHLF: snewmark@ghlf.org

Zoe Rothblatt, Patient Advocate and Community Outreach Manager at GHLF: zrothblatt@ghlf.org

We want to hear what you think. Send your comments, or a video or audio clip of yourself, to thehealthadvocates@ghlf.org

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