We strongly support the patient protections being cemented in place with this rulemaking. Patients have long suffered under the proliferation of unfair billing practices through no fault of their own. This interim final rule goes a long way to make sure patients are protected from the market failure of which surprise billing is a symptom, and not held responsible for payment disputes between insurers and providers. The law and rule ensure balance billing is banned in a broad range of circumstances, especially for services that the patient has no choice of provider: ancillary services or care as a result of an unforeseen, urgent medical need. As a whole, the IFC proposes comprehensive protections that keep patients from being unfairly held responsible for decisions in which they had no input. We applaud the Departments in implementing these protections.
