While hospitals and specialty physicians prefer to use arbitrationto resolve such payment issues, that's not a part of the proposedHouse legislation.

A measure to end surprise medical bills, released by theDemocratic and Republican leaders of the House Energy and CommerceCommittee, was released in discussion draft form.

The Hill reports that the action by ChairmanFrank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, and ranking member Greg Walden, R-OR,reflects bipartisan support for protecting people from theunexpected and often huge medical bills that show up in the wake ofemergencies and even regular treatment.

In a joint statement, the congressmen said, “Today we circulateda draft bill for review that we believe strongly protects patientsand families from surprise medical bills. We must ensure thatpatients are not responsible for these outrageous bills, which iswhy our discussion draft removes patients from the middle.”

Related: Trump admin steps up fight against surprise medicalbills

The bill would protect patients seeking emergency care fromhaving to ascertain whether all providers are in network, as wellas setting up a process to determine how much insurers must paymedical providers for the out-of-network care; the payment ratewould be based on the usual rates in that geographic area.

A similar bipartisan effort is underway in the Senate, from BillCassidy, R-LA, Maggie Hassan, D-NH and Michael Bennet, D-CO,collaborating on a piece of legislation.

Numerous health industry groups have come out in support of thelegislative efforts to curb surprise medical bills.

“Health care is already complicated and costly enough. Patientsshouldn't be receiving surprise bills from doctors they don'tchoose when they go to a hospital in their insurance network orwhen they have an emergency,” said Brian Marcotte, President andCEO of the National Business Group on Health in a statementreleased by NBGH.

Of course, any attempts to reform the current process will bemet with resistance by hospital groups. “There is no question thisproposal would transfer a bargaining power from providers toinsurers — a fact that is sure to have provider groups up in arms,”Benedic Ippolito of the American Enterprise Institute, toldModern Healthcare.

Modern Healthcare reports that while hospitals—who are opposedto the House measure—and specialty physicians prefer to usearbitration to resolve such payment issues, that's not a part ofthe proposed House legislation. Rather, out-of-network clinicianswould be paid based on what insurers would pay for comparablein-network physicians.

Hospitals would also have to get written permission frompatients before allowing out-of-network physicians to treatthem.

Lawmakers not only want feedback on the House proposal but alsoseek input on how to combat surprise bills from air and groundambulance companies.

The Trump administration is also pushing Congress to includepolicy principles that would, among other things, compel theissuance of a single hospital bill after treatment that wouldinclude all charges from providers. Both hospitals and specialtyphysicians are strongly opposed to this as well, since not onlywould they have to change their billing practices, they'd likelytake a hit to their bottom lines.

Read more: 

• Surprise billing: the U.S. needs betterdefinitions
• Consumers more likely to pay hospital bills ifcosts are clear
• Out-of-network providers vex large employerplans