New Law Protects Washington Consumers From Surprise Medical Bill
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler put forward a new law, effective January 1st, that will protect Washington state consumers from certain medical providers sending surprise bills. After four years of trying to prevent surprise balances or bills surfacing unexpectedly, now in 2020 patients who receive services at an in-network hospital or surgical facility can no longer receive a balance billed from an out of network provider.
"This new law is designed to protect consumers who go for an emergency at any hospital from getting a surprise medical bill, meaning a bill that's not in their health plan's network," said Stephanie Marquis, spokesperson. "Or if they go to a hospital that is in their health plan, this law is going to protect them from getting a surprise bill from an out of network provider."
According to Marquis, Kreidler has been working to get this law in place for four years after many consumer complaints of surprise balances cropping up. Washington is one of 13 states to approve comprehensive protections against surprise bills.
"We were able to do it this year, part of the process was we had some very compelling consumer stories come through this year," said Marquis.
Some key protections packed in the law includes: a consumer who receives emergency care in an out-of-network emergency room or who receives a non-emergency medical procedure in an in-network hospital or facility cannot be balanced billed, consumers will be given a notice describing when they can and cannot receive a balance bill, an insurer cannot balance bill a patient if they seek emergency care at an out-of-network facility in a state that borders Washington and insurers, providers and facilities must include up-to-date network information on their websites.