President Trump Wants to Protect Patients and Their Families From Surprise Billing

LIFTING THE BURDEN OF SURPRISE BILLING: President Donald J. Trump is putting forward principles to address the problem of surprise billing in healthcare.

• American families deserve to be protected against the burden of costly, surprise bills when their loved ones receive medical care.
  • A 2018 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 67 percent of Americans worry about unexpected medical bills, with 38 percent saying they are very worried.
• Patients are often hit with surprise bills after receiving emergency care from an out-of-network provider, when they could not choose their provider.
• Patients also often receive surprise bills at highly inflated prices after receiving care from an out-of-network provider they reasonably assumed was in their network.
• The Trump Administration believes that any effort to address the issue of surprise billing should be undertaken with these principles in mind:
  • Patients receiving emergency care should not be forced to shoulder extra costs billed by a care provider but not covered by their insurer.
  • Patients receiving scheduled care should have information about whether providers are in or out of their network and what costs they may face.
  • Patients should not receive surprise bills from out-of-network providers they did not choose.
  • Federal healthcare expenditures should not increase.

PROTECTING PATIENTS: President Trump wants to ensure patients are not taken advantage of and have the price information they need to make informed decisions.

• The Administration wants to ensure patients are not price gouged in emergency situations by out-of-network providers they could not choose.
  • In emergency situations, balance billing for amounts above the in-network allowed amount should be prohibited.
• The Administration wants to bring transparency to the confusing and opaque pricing system patients face when scheduling care.
  • Before scheduling their care, patients should be given information about whether the care providers are out of their network and what related costs that may bring.

COMMITTED TO LOWERING COSTS: Combating surprise billing will build on the numerous actions President Trump has taken to put patients in control and lower the costs they face.  

• The Trump Administration expanded short-term, limited duration insurance plans, which can be far cheaper than exchange plans and better suited to peoples’ needs.
• The Administration expanded association health plans, making it more affordable for small businesses to provide health insurance to their employees.
• The President signed the elimination of the individual mandate penalty.
• The President launched a campaign to drive down drug prices, and recently finalized a historic new requirement that drug companies include prices in television advertisements.
• The Food and Drug Administration set new records for generic drug approvals in 2017 and 2018, saving Americans $26 billion in the first year and a half of the Trump Administration.