On September 30, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the Departments), along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), released an interim final rule with comment period, entitled “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II.”
This rule is related to Title I (the No Surprises Act) of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and establishes new protections from surprise billing and excessive cost sharing for consumers receiving healthcare items/services. It implements additional protections against surprise medical bills under the No Surprises Act, including provisions related to the independent dispute resolution process, good faith estimates for uninsured (or self-pay) individuals, the patient-provider dispute resolution process, and expanded rights to external review.
In conjunction with the release of this interim final rule, the Departments and OPM launched a website focused primarily on providing general information about No Surprises Act provisions. It will include a federal portal for organizations to apply to become certified independent dispute resolution entities and for providers and payers to participate in the federal independent dispute resolution process: https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/Help-resolve-payment-disputes.
The Departments and OPM intend to post additional information over the next several months, including information about how to initiate an independent dispute resolution process in the federal portal, and plan to highlight different provisions as they become more relevant to different stakeholders and audiences.
