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| Action needed: | Urge your congressional representatives to provide additional relief to hospitals caring for their communities during the pandemic and avoid a rush to include surprise medical billing legislation in any year-end package.
To find your representative’s contact information, visit www.house.gov/representatives/find |
| Timing: | Contact representatives this week (by Dec. 15). |
Background:
As Congress continues to negotiate year-end spending issues and seems to be making progress toward a COVID-19 relief bill, there is also a significant effort underway in the House to include legislation on surprise medical billing in a year-end package.
A rushed effort on surprise billing legislation could threaten access to care and devastate providers’ abilities to fully respond to the COVID-19 resurgence that is overwhelming California right now. CHA has partnered with colleagues at the California Medical Association to oppose this 11th hour effort (see our coordinated message points).
Hospitals agree that surprise billing must end, but the proposals being considered reward insurance companies by stripping nearly $20 billion from providers on the front lines of the pandemic. COVID-19 patients are protected from surprise medical bills during the pandemic because providers agreed to not balance bill as a condition of accepting Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Stimulus Act Provider Relief Fund payments.
Please contact your representatives and urge them not to include these harmful provisions in any end-of-year legislation.
CHA also urges hospital leaders to continue to ask their representatives to take action to support providers during the lame duck session by continuing specific funding provisions and passing a much-needed COVID-19 relief bill as outlined in CHA’s Nov. 9 Alert.