Sen. Tina Smith Applauds Bi-Partisan Passage Of ‘No Surprises Act’ Involving Emergency Medical Bills

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith is applauding lawmakers on both sides of the isle in D.C. for a new law now in effect to stop surprise medical bills for most emergency care.

The “No Surprises Act” went into effect Jan. 1.

Smith said Americans have faced unexpected medical bills for years after seeking emergency care ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.

But the new law makes many of those surprise bills illegal, especially when the bills are fueled by out-of-network billing choices people never knew was happening.

“It is going to help Minnesotans who are, frankly, really worried about healthcare costs all the time. This is one part of higher healthcare costs that is going to be helped by this legislation,” said Sen. Tina Smith. “There’s more that we need to do. We need to bring prescription drug prices down, we need to pass Build Back Better so that the price of insulin is lower, but this one thing with surprise medical bills is a big deal and will help a lot of people.”

If there is an issue with charges the dispute must be handled between the hospital and the insurance company, according to Smith.

She adds that one in five people get surprise bills or out-of-network costs and didn’t know they were expecting that.