No Surprises Act Brings Increased Consumer Protections from Unexpected Medical Bills

Today, the Pennsylvania Health Law Project (PHLP) joined Governor Tom Wolf, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID), and the Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN) to celebrate the upcoming implementation of the No Surprises Act on January 1, 2022, a measure that will protect consumers from receiving surprise medical bills.

"A patient who has carefully researched and selected an in-network facility and provider or is seeking care because of an emergency should not be stuck with out-of-network costs and billing when they had little or no choice regarding providers that may, in the end, be out -of-network," said Governor Wolf. "The Wolf Administration has been committed to protecting consumers from balance billing, and the implementation of the No Surprises Act is a major step toward ending unexpected, upsetting and many times financially devastating medical bills."

A surprise bill is an unexpected medical bill that a patient receives when they unintentionally obtain health care from a provider that is outside their plan's provider network. Surprise bills can happen in emergency situations, but can also occur in a non-emergency situation, when an out-of-network ancillary provider such as an anesthesiologist or radiologist provides care at an in-network facility.

Watch a video of the full press conference here.

Read the full press release here.