Press Releases

(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08) released the following statement after an agreement was reached on a bipartisan basis by the leadership of the committees of jurisdiction in the House and the Senate to protect Americans from surprise medical bills:

“I applaud the leadership of the relevant House and Senate committees for finally all coming to the table to work to find common ground on legislation to end the practice of surprise medical billing. As a physician, I believe that any surprise medical billing legislation must protect patients from surprise medical bills – while also being a balanced approach that works for both health plans and health care providers.  While discussions continue around the final details, I am encouraged by the progress that has been made—going from a proposed benchmark with no arbitration, to a product that eliminates the benchmark entirely and establishes an accessible and robust Independent Dispute Resolution process.  I look forward to continuing my work with committee leadership in the coming days to ensure patients are protected from surprise bills and providers have the certainty they need to continue providing accessible and quality care to their patients."

Background

In July 2019, the Energy in Commerce committee successfully adopted an amendment to H.R. 3630 offered by Congressman Ruiz (D-CA) and Congressman Bucshon that would establish an Independent Dispute Resolution process, allowing providers to appeal the payment rate to an independent arbiter.