Arnold Ventures’ Statement on No Surprises Act Final Rule

Today, the Biden Administration released the first regulation to implement the No Surprises Act. We applaud the Administration for making strong progress toward eliminating the indefensible practice of surprise medical billing and implementing the law in a way that reduces costs. 

This first rule is a good step. As the Administration continues to implement the law, they must ensure the law lowers premiums for consumers and employers and reduces the federal deficit. This includes putting into place appropriate guardrails to limit the ability of out-of-network providers and private equity firms to abuse the independent dispute resolution process, and further inflate costs for consumers, businesses, and taxpayers. Making the qualified payment amount the primary factor in determining payment is essential. The process should be predictable and rarely used.

We remain optimistic that the implementation process will ultimately result in a law that achieves the objectives Congress intended: protecting patients from surprise bills and lowering health care costs.