A bipartisan group of six U.S. representatives has introduced a bill that would prohibit insurers and their intermediaries from levying fees on doctors for paying them electronically. The legislation comes in the wake of a ProPublica investigation that detailed the toll of such fees, which add up to billions of dollars that could be spent on care but are instead funneled to insurers and payment processors.

The charges are akin to having an employer deduct 1.5% to 5% to provide a paycheck electronically if an employee prefers to receive a payment directly into their bank account rather than via a paper check. Yet that's the choice many insurers are increasingly forcing on doctors.

"We don't tolerate paying fees to receive direct deposit of a paycheck, likewise, doctors and patients should not be forced to pay predatory fees on electronic payments on essential health services," the bill's lead sponsor, Republican Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina, said in a statement announcing the legislation. Murphy's bill would effectively force the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal government's chief regulator on health care payments, to prohibit the fees.