06/25/2019
Protect Your Patients from Surprise Bills!
We need your help! Contact your State Representative and State Senator.
Ohio ACEP leaders have been diligently working on House Bill 166, the state’s biennial budget bill. When the budget bill was passed by the House of Representatives, there were several concerning portions added, including an unfavorable “surprise billing” provision. Ohio ACEP President, Dr. Brad Raetzke, formally testified before a Senate Committee about our concerns. Over the last several weeks, we have worked with members of the legislature and other interested parties on alternative language.
Ohio ACEP is pleased to announce that the Ohio Senate included a surprise billing provision in their version of HB 166 that truly protects patients without putting providers at a disadvantage. The Senate version of the bill went on to pass the full chamber unanimously!
The bill now goes to a conference committee where members of the House and Senate will decide on a final version of HB 166 to send to Governor DeWine.
We need your help! Please take a moment to look up the contact information for your State Representative and State Senator by
entering your home address on the General Assembly’s homepage. Then send them an email and/or give them a call (be sure to mention you are one of their constituents and an emergency physician!).
Ask your legislators to support the Senate version of the budget bill’s surprise billing provision, because:
- This solution is modeled on a successful law implemented in New York which virtually eliminated surprise billing in the state
- It is the only version of the surprise billing language which truly holds patients harmless from surprise bills when treated at an in-network hospital
- It incentivizes providers to bill fair rates and insurers to reimburse fairly by creating a “baseball-style” arbitration that keeps patients out of billing disputes
Thanks in advance for helping to protect your patients from surprise bills!