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

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

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

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