January 28, 2015
Health Care Alert
Author(s): Rebecca Simone, Laurie T. Cohen
The first set of proposed regulations has been issued to New York’s "Surprise Medical Bill Law." The law is intended to provide consumer protections from certain medical bills received from out-of-network health care providers. Health care providers must be aware of three essential impacts of this law.
As summarized in a prior client alert (see related link below), New York’s Emergency Services and Surprise Bills law (the “Surprise Medical Bill Law”), set to go into effect on March 31, 2015, is largely intended to provide consumer protections from medical bills received from out-of-network physicians for services rendered in a hospital emergency room. The law also applies to medical bills received from out-of-network physicians and other health care providers for services rendered outside an emergency room in those cases where, for example, a patient has been referred to an out-of-network provider by an in-network physician, absent required disclosures and consents. The Department of Financial Services issued proposed regulations on December 31, 2014,[1] which primarily focus on the qualifications and processes of the Independent Dispute Resolution Entity (the “IDRE”) that will handle disputes among health plans, providers and patients regarding reimbursement for “surprise bills” and bills for emergency room services submitted by out-of-network physicians. Additionally, the proposed regulations clarify that the law, in certain circumstances, applies to services rendered by non-physician health care providers like physical therapists and laboratories and defines essential terms of the law that were previously unclear, such as what constitutes a referral to a non-participating referred health care provider.
The Surprise Medical Bill Law is complex and every health care provider should take the time to consider how it will impact their specific practice and policies (especially for health care providers that do not participate in many, or any, health insurance plans). The three key aspects of the law are summarized below:
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