The American Medical Association (AMA) has published a webinar addressing the implementation of the No Surprises Act. The hourlong informational conversation, which can be streamed on demand on YouTube, covers matters related to the law, which seeks to reduce the proportion of unanticipated medical bills. It also focuses on issues that have arisen already since the law’s implementation on Jan. 1, 2022.
Moderated by Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, the panel features Michael Kolber and Joel S. Ario of Manatt Health, a professional services firm that specializes in health care policy. Manatt Health has been tracking the ongoing implementation of the No Surprises Act at the statewide level.
“Last month, the AMA joined with the American Hospital Association in suing the federal government for stepping outside their statutory authority and implementing the independent dispute resolution process under the No Surprises Act, and for upending the careful compromise Congress deliberately chose for resolving billing disputes,” said Mukkamala during the presentation. “To be clear, the lawsuit doesn’t challenge any of the patient protections in the bill or any of the new requirements on providers. Instead, it focuses on compelling the administration to bring the regulations in line with the way the law was written in Congress and allow the arbiter in the dispute resolution process to consider all factors relevant to payments that are enumerated in the statute.”
However, the webinar focused not on the ongoing legal challenges but on the reality of the laws that are already in place. These include the coverage provided by out-of-network providers at in-network facilities for nonemergency services, the coverage of emergency services by out-of-network providers, and the requirement of a “Good Faith Estimate” for the cost of care by the provider performing the services.
The full webinar can be viewed here. A full transcript is available on the AMA website.
