The state legislature of Georgia has seen the introduction of two separate bills aimed at protecting patients from “surprise” medical billing.
Such unexpected invoices “can come from ER doctors, anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists and others who are not in a patient’s insurance network, even though the hospital where they work is,” the Gwinnett Daily Post reports.
“The health insurer shell game is so murky that even the savviest patients have trouble navigating its rules,’’ Steven Walsh, MD, head of the Medical Association of Georgia, tells the newspaper. “In case of an emergency, a lot of patients do their research and try to do the right thing and go to a hospital that is in their insurance network. But they generally don’t have any way of knowing when a doctor they need to see is in or out of the network. The system lacks transparency—and our patients pay in the end.
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Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.