The Timely Bills for Patients Act requires health care facilities and individual practitioners to provide patients with a list of services received within five days of discharge and to send fully processed bills no later than 45 days after discharge. Patients would be protected from having to pay bills until at least 30 days after receiving them. The bill affects all health care providers and facilities, as well as health insurance companies that must work with providers to ensure claims are processed quickly enough to meet billing deadlines. Providers who repeatedly fail to meet these timelines face civil penalties up to ten thousand dollars per day, though exceptions are allowed for situations like incorrect addresses or major emergencies such as cyberattacks or hurricanes. The Department of Health and Human Services has one year to write detailed rules defining what circumstances qualify as extenuating, and the requirements take effect six months after the bill becomes law.
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