Jingle Bells

Modern Healthcare discusses the status of surprise billing legislation.

Months of debate on how to protect patients from out-of-network charges at in-network facilities culminated in an eight-day period when a bipartisan, bicameral proposal with White House support came together, but ultimately fell short. Some observers aren't so sure that a compromise exists anymore.

"Ultimately, the leadership decided that with unresolved disagreements between the committees of jurisdiction, more time was needed and surprise billing would be reserved for the must-past May health extenders vehicle," a Democratic leadership aide said. 

Here's a FEHBlog brainstorm exempt bills not eligible below the arbitration threshold from the law's pricing provisions. See how the law works with larger bills first.

Healthcare Dive discusses the latest legislative activities on this front.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is expanding its investigation into surprise billing practices by calling on some of the nation's largest insurers and physician staffing firms to provide information and documents on the practice, lawmakers said Thursday. 

The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee also is participating in this investigation. Those two committees have been cooperating in the development of the key bipartisan surprise billing proposal, S. 1895.

Health IT Security reports that

An explanatory statement included with the Congressional Appropriations Agreement directs the Office of the National Coordinator to work with private sector initiatives focused on the development of a national strategy to improve patient identification across the healthcare sector.

The appropriations bill left out language that would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to use public funds for the development of a national patient identifier. For the last 20 years, the ban has been included in every appropriations bill, despite language in HIPAA that directs HHS to develop a unique patient identifier.

The FEHBlog recalls that the same provision was included in the FY 2019 appropriations legislation. A national payer identifier would help push interoperability forward.

Tammy Flanagan, writing in Govexec, answered questions related to the five year rule that allows retiring federal employees to carry their coverage into retirement with the full government contribution. Check it out.

Happy Holidays.