WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the following statement following the President’s call to end surprise medical billing for hospital care.  

Senator Rick Scott said, “I’m glad the President is focused on making healthcare more affordable and transparent for American families. I am too. There is no reason patients should be surprised by their hospital bills, which is why I filed the Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills Act last week. Congress should heed the President’s call and move quickly on this issue. Preventing hospital price gouging is a common sense idea that will help all American families, and I look forward to working with the President to get this done.”

The Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills Act will protect over 100 million patients from paying unexpected bills for out-of-network services by:

• Ensuring patients cannot be charged more than in-network rates for emergency services and covered non-emergency services.  
• Removing the patient entirely from any billing disputes and requiring medical providers and health insurance plans to work out any disputed claims.
• Creating a voluntary binding arbitration process as an incentive for providers and insurers to quickly resolve any disputed claims.
• Requiring health plans to provide a list of in-network providers, updated each month, so consumers know where they can seek treatment.

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