House Committees Release Surprise Medical Bills Legislation

Today, two key House Committees – the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee – released competing legislative proposals to address surprise medical bills.  Both Committees expect to have hearings on the legislation next week. 
 
The House Ways and Means Committee released a discussion draft and summary of their legislative proposal to address surprise medical bills.  This draft comes after the Committee’s release in December of a legislative framework. This bill is expected to be marked up in Committee next week.
 
The Education and Labor Committee also released a legislative summary of their competing proposal to address surprise medical bills. A markup of the legislation has been announced for Tuesday, February 11.
 
These Committees are two of three in the House of Representatives with jurisdiction on this issue.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee, the third Committee with jurisdiction, released a bill last year which ASA opposed, and also announced an agreement with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee which ASA opposes.  Congress is expected to take action on this issue by May.
 
ASA leadership and staff are continuing to review these proposals and will have a more comprehensive analysis soon.