11/08/2019

Ohio ACEP and Healthcare Organizations Testify in Support of Bipartisan Surprise Billing Fix

New surprise billing legislation, meanwhile, introduced in Ohio House

It was a busy week advocating for a legislative solution to the widespread problem of surprise billing in Ohio. On Wednesday, the Ohio ACEP team attended the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee hearing for proponent testimony on Ohio ACEP-supported surprise billing legislation, Senate Bill 198. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Sens. Nickie Antonio (D—Lakewood) and Steve Huffman, MD (R—Tipp City), would prohibit balance billing of patients who receive unanticipated out-of-network care at a hospital that is in their insurance network. The bill then creates a “baseball-style” independent dispute resolution (IDR) process to settle payment disputes between the physician and the insurance company.

Ohio ACEP Board Member Dr. Bryan Graham gave proponent testimony in support of SB 198 on behalf of Ohio ACEP. Dr. Graham did an outstanding job laying out to committee members the unique aspects of practicing medicine under the federal law EMTALA, clarifying the problem of surprise billing and how it affects patients and providers, and explaining how SB 198—based upon a model which has nearly eliminated surprise bills in states that have adopted it—protects patients and keeps them out of the middle of billing disputes.

SB 198 has garnered support from a wide variety of groups, many of which had representatives testify at Wednesday’s committee hearing, including physician organizations like the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA), American Medical Association (AMA), and Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists as well as patients’ rights groups like the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio (UHCAN Ohio) and Physicians for Fair Coverage (PFC).

Other emergency physicians also testified in support of SB 198, including Ohio ACEP member and Chairman of the Emergency Services Institute at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Bradford Borden (on behalf of Cleveland Clinic); and Dr. Anthony Cirillo, National ACEP Board Member and Director of Health Policy and Legislative Advocacy for US Acute Care Solutions (on behalf of USACS).

Thanks to all the Ohio ACEP members who have contacted their State Senator to encourage them to support SB 198. Keep up the great work!

SB 198 has had two hearings before the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee. Stay tuned to future editions of the Advocacy Update for the latest on SB 198’s progress and action alerts.

House Legislation Introduced
In other surprise billing news, Rep. Adam Holmes (R—Nashport) introduced surprise billing legislation in the Ohio House earlier in the week. House Bill 388 is not favorable for physicians and would create a payment benchmark based on median in-network rates. In addition, the arbitration process proposed by the legislation specifies that physician reimbursement could not exceed the in-network rate. Rep. Holmes testified in support of his bill on Friday before the House Finance Committee.

Ohio ACEP will be participating in interested party meetings hosted by Rep. Holmes to discuss the bill, so be on the lookout for the latest on HB 388 in upcoming editions of the Advocacy Update.