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National patient organizations applaud Biden administration rule implementing the No Surprises Act

Interim final rule includes safeguards for patients and protects individuals from surprise medical bills

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14, 2021 – 27 patient and consumer organizations representing millions of people facing serious, acute, chronic health conditions commend the Biden administration on the July 1 release of an interim final rule that will prevent patients from receiving surprise medical bills as required by the No Surprises Act, which became law in December as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The interim final rule released by the departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor includes robust safeguards for patients and consumers nationwide. The groups commend the rule for:

• Providing consumers with clear, comprehensive protections against surprise bills where they have not knowingly obtained out-of-network care;
• Including strong protections to help limit surprise bills for services following emergency care;
• Ensuring that patients do not face higher cost sharing when a provider bills less than the median in-network rate; and
• Clarifying that plans and issuers cannot retroactively deny coverage for emergency care.

"Our organizations are pleased to see that the interim final rule implements the key patient protections in the No Surprises Act and addresses several areas of concern we recently raised to the Biden administration,” the organizations stated. “While we believe additional steps could be taken to strengthen the rule, as written, the rule ensures that patients are held harmless from most surprise bills and protects health care affordability and access. We look forward to working alongside the administration as it works to implement the No Surprises Act."

Alpha-1 Foundation
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Diabetes Association
American Heart Association
American Kidney Fund
American Lung Association
Arthritis Foundation
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
CancerCare
Cancer Support Community
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Epilepsy Foundation
Family Voices
Hemophilia Federation of America
JDRF
Muscular Dystrophy Association
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Eczema Association
National Health Council
National Hemophilia Foundation
National MS Society
National Organization for Rare Disorders
National Patient Advocate Foundation
Susan G. Komen
The AIDS Institute
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease