Accordingto one congressional aide close to the negotiations, "it's not amatter of tweaks to get providers to stand down, it's that providergroups don't want to see a solution here. They want the statusquo."

Congress may be attempting to take action against surprise billsthat prove to be the financial undoing of so many consumers, butnot if physician groups have anything to say about it.

And they're saying as much as they can, as loudly as they can,according to a report in Modern Healthcare. In fact, according tocongressional staff, physician groups are willing to make theentire effort against surprise billing go down in flames ratherthan find themselves on the receiving end of efforts to curtail howmuch money they can make.

Related: What to do about surprise bills? It's not soclear-cut.

According to Modern Healthcare, it's not just physician groups'public relations and advertising that's pushing back hard againstany sort of action. There's also lobbying and the influx of darkmoney, too, to ads against lawmakers, particularly vulnerablesenators, in their home districts. And the American HospitalAssociation is asking members to "go directly to theirrepresentatives and senators to lobby against the benchmarkproposal."

According to one congressional aide close to the negotiations,"it's not a matter of tweaks to get providers to stand down, it'sthat provider groups don't want to see a solution here. They wantthe status quo. They've charted out where Congress could end up,and they are ready for the whole thing to come down. For them,surprise billing can stay in the mix."

Another staffer said that the massive effort is causing policyaides to doubt whether providers actually want any action at all.That staffer is quoted saying, "Our question is, what happened totheir commitment to protecting the patients? It shows just how bigof a cash cow this practice is, that they're willing to pourmillions of dollars into fighting these bills."

Provider groups deny that, with Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federationof American Hospitals, which represents for-profit hospitals,quoted saying, "We want to see legislation. It's a problem we can'tsolve ourselves—I wish we could—and we need legislation to ensurepatients don't suffer from sticker shock, that their copayments arereasonable and within the bounds of their coverage."

But neither the proposed "benchmark" solutions proposed by Senate andHouse health committee leaders, nor a limited arbitration proposal,are making much headway at present, with efforts focused inapparent ploy to keep votes from occurring at all. The benchmarkingproposals are being characterized in ads and other campaigns as"rate-setting," and efforts focused on Democrats say thatbenchmarking could "undercut the health safety net."

Even lobbyists are somewhat concerned about the turn the battleis taking, with the report quoting one who said, "The fact thatindustry on both sides could scare Congress into inaction on anissue that is financially ruining Americans through no fault oftheir own is unconscionable." That provider lobbyist, the reportadds, "wants a 'split the baby' policy that 'doesn't destabilizethe relationship between providers and payers.'"

"What we've seen (from industry) is, 'First, protect mefinancially. And to the extent we can then take patients out of themiddle, that's great," Shawn Gremminger, senior directorof federal relations for the consumer advocacy group Families USAtold Modern Healthcare.

Millions and millions are being spent on this August pushagainst surprise billing legislation. The losers are sure to beconsumers.

Read more: 

• Is outlawing surprise medical bills really inconsumers' best interests?
• Majority of people have received unexpected medicalbills in the past year
• Jury deems Centura Health $230K surgical bill'unreasonable,' awards $766