In response to the inclusion of the “No Surprises Act” in H.R. 133, the ‘‘Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) issued the following statement:

The Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage strongly supports protecting patients when put in a situation in which they lack a choice of providers. The legislation is an important step in holding our employees and their families harmless from direct, unforeseen out-of-network medical care costs and ending the practice of surprise medical billing, including in the use of air ambulance services.

Unfortunately, the policy route Congress has chosen to address surprise medical billing, through an independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, will add administrative costs and burdens on employers. Under an IDR process, the self-insured employer, not the contracted insurance carrier, would be responsible for settling claims disputes.

We remain disappointed that the original bipartisan, bicameral surprise billing proposal utilizing a market-based, local geographic rate to settle claims disputes will not become law. However, P4ESC will continue to work with Congress in a bipartisan manner and with regulators in the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury to ensure our employees are protected, and broader health system costs and network availability issues are addressed.