New York to Hold Hearing on Medical Billing Practice

New York health and insurance regulators have scheduled an October 7 hearing to consider concerns about so-called balance billing by out-of-network providers.

The hearing, which is being conducted jointly by the state’s insurance and health departments, was prompted by complaints from consumers who received care from in-network doctors and hospitals and later discovered that related specialty services were provided by out-of-network providers. In such cases, the non-network providers billed patients for any uncovered expenses after insurers either denied their claims or reduced their reimbursements.

The two departments are considering statutory and regulatory changes to address these issues and are seeking input from consumers, health plans, providers and other interested parties.

The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. October 7 in Meeting Room 1 of Empire State Plaza in Albany. Those wishing to testify should contact the New York State Insurance Department’s public affairs bureau at (212) 480-5262. Oral testimony will be limited to 10 minutes per person.

Written comments for the hearing record may be e-mailed to PublicHearingsComments@ins.state.ny.us with the subject line “Coverage of Health Care Services.” Comments will be accepted for up to 15 days after the hearing.

The hearing will be webcast live. More information is available at the department’s Web site at www.ins.state.ny.us.

Filed by Joanne Wojcik of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

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