Tag: Out-of-network medical bills

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Effort to stop surprise medical bills stalls as doctors fight back

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 05, 2016 at 5:35 PM

TRENTON — The seven-year effort to crack down on surprise out-of-network medical bills was delayed again Monday, the same day a group of doctors urged lawmakers to consider an alternative proposal they say won’t force them out of business.

Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), who sponsored the leading legislation that would cap the amount out-of-network doctors and hospitals are paid for emergency treatment, announced Monday he had pulled his bill from a the committee’s agenda for the day. Vitale said is working with the New Jersey Hospital Association to make changes to the bill (A1952) and wants that work to continue.

“I remain confident that efforts of working to build consensus will result in the strongest consumer protection out-of-network bill in the country,” Vitale said in a statement.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/12/effort_to_stop_surprise_medical_bills_delayed_as_d.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_index

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Out-of-network medical bills a costly shock in N.J.

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

MAY 31, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015, 9:38 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

They were moments of crisis for each family. A newborn who wasn’t breathing was rushed to intensive care. A 15-year-old skier who wiped out on a slope in the Catskills needed surgery to reconstruct his shoulder. A 65-year-old insurance agent who survived a heart attack needed urgent bypass surgery to clear his arteries.

The stress didn’t stop once these medical crises passed, however. Within a few weeks, each family received an unexpected medical bill.

They had been savvy enough to follow their insurers’ rules and choose in-network hospitals to maximize their coverage and minimize their out-of-pocket costs. But one or more of the physicians who took care of them — and over whom they had no choice — did not participate in their insurance network.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/out-of-network-medical-bills-a-costly-shock-in-n-j-1.1345737