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Surprise Medical Billing Reaches a Tipping Point

David Rook

All across the country, a sweeping movement to combat surprise medical bills has been slowly percolating and is now finally gaining traction on a national level.

What began as grievances filed by wronged patients has grown into government officials at both the state and federal level championing legislation against this industry practice.

A law that recently went into effect in Arizona and recent remarks from President Trump are merely the latest in an ongoing trend that has the force to reshape how patients are billed for out-of-network expenses.

Unexpected Out-of-Network Charges Result in Surprise Medical Bills

Surprise medical billing isn’t so much an intentional practice of healthcare companies, as much as it’s a byproduct of the fractured healthcare industry. Specifically, it’s a result of multiple institutions and providers treating patients simultaneously while working for different employers.

In its simplest form, a surprise medical bill is an unexpected medical bill that patients receive for out-of-network services that they thought were in-network. The bill is sent after the services are provided, leaving patients with little recourse and high fees since out-of-network charges tend to be much higher than those in-network.

An all too common scenario shows how easy this can happen to patients. A patient goes to a hospital for a covered surgical procedure. They’ve done their research and have made sure that both the hospital and the surgeon’s practice are within their insurer’s network. In completing this due diligence, they then assume that the entire procedure will be covered as an in-network expense. Seems reasonable, right?

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Topics: Cost Containment, Legislation, trends, Arizona, healthcare costs, Arizona Regulations

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Self-Funding For Small Business; A Way to Manage Healthcare Costs and Expand Options

Jeff Griffin

The popularity of self-funded group healthcare plans continues to rise. Already immensely popular with large employers, small businesses continue to embrace self-funding as a remarkably effective way to manage costs, navigate changing regulations, and expand medical plan options.

The genesis of self-funding’s popularity amongst smaller employers can be traced back to the Affordable Care Act. When the ACA was enacted back in March of 2010, its requirements prompted many small to mid-size companies to re-examine how they were offering - and funding - employee benefits.

Self-funding used to be considered an alternative funding method that was ONLY feasible for large companies who could take on greater risks and handle cash flow fluctuations in exchange for upside savings potential. Self-funding, after all, is a mechanism by which companies are essentially insuring themselves.

With the advent of the ACA, the benefits of self-funding expanded beyond just those of potential financial upside. The benefits of the transition are now far more reaching, and now benefit employers and employees alike.

Because of this, small and mid-size employers have been taking the plunge into self-funded group medical plans in large numbers. And as the industry has continued to evolve, self-funding among small groups has become quite common.

Here’s why:

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Topics: self-funding, healthcare costs, small businesses, stop-loss insurance

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