In the article, Carter Johnson, a spokesperson for the Save Our Air Medical Resources Campaign, said she believes some private health insurers have been “shirking their responsibility to adequately cover emergency healthcare, leaving patients stuck with large bills they weren’t expecting for care that was critically necessary to their health.”
“Put simply, surprise bills happen because insurance companies don’t want to pay for the cost of service,” she further claimed.
Ms. Johnson said any moves from Congress to help patients avoid surprise balanced billing must home in on low reimbursement from government and private payers.
Payers have been active in discussions around surprise medical bills, and major payer groups recently banded together to advocate for policies related to the issue.
Read the full op-ed here.
More articles on payer issues:
4 updates on payer-provider relations
Group Health Cooperative partners with Fort HealthCare
Henry Ford Health insurer’s CEO Terri Kline on decision to buy a Medicaid plan
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