Roger Marshall: “If you or a loved one has ever experienced a medical emergency, you know how stressful these situations can be; but for…”

“If you or a loved one has ever experienced a medical emergency, you know how stressful these situations can be; but for far too many, the stress and heartache does not end when help arrives or treatment is delivered. Nearly one in four Kansans seeking medical treatment either through planned surgery or emergency medical care are hit with a surprise bill because the care they received was from a provider outside of their network. In Kansas, this can happen after a trip to the emergency room for, say, a child's broken arm, a motor vehicle accident, or chest pain. Surprise billing may occur when a patient receives emergency care from a professional outside of their insurance network. Unfortunately, surprise billing can also occur in nonemergency situations where a surgery is planned out well in advance, but you later find out one of the doctors or services was not in your plan's network. These unplanned expenses can leave Kansans on the hook for thousands--if not tens of thousands--of dollars in additional medical bills, often depleting family savings or forcing individuals into long-term debt and even bankruptcy. The nightmare of unplanned medical billing has gone on far too long. Working alongside the White House and President Trump's leadership and my fellow members of the House Doc Caucus, I am proud of the solutions we have developed that would put an end to the unfair practice of surprise billing.…”