Work on Surprise Medical Billing continues

Last month, I told you about the launch of our “uber” campaign to help protect patients from financially crippling surprise medical bills. I thought you’d want to hear an update on how it is going and what actions you can take to help.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with surprise medical billing, it is a medical bill that came as a surprise to patients with health care coverage, often, but not always in an emergency situation. Some common examples are you had a health emergency and the ambulance was not in your network, or you went to an in-network facility for a scheduled medical treatment, but unknown to you, the provider who treated you was not actually in your network. Then, often months later you receive a bill for services you thought would be covered by your insurance. It’s a harmful practice that throws millions of Americans into financial crisis and the problem is widespread, as more than half of Americans have received a surprise bill! Now more than ever, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress needs to act to protect patients.

We launched this campaign with our partners in the patient community to highlight the problem and compel the United States Congress to take-action. Since the launch of the campaign, I am pleased to report that You’re the Cure advocates from across the country have sent nearly 6,000 messages to Congress urging them to protect patients from surprise medical bills. We’ve also had countless advocates share their stories about surprise medical bills they’ve received. The early returns from the campaign are ASTONISHING, and we thank you for your efforts! But I know we can and need to do more to make sure that Congress hears from us.

There are three quick ways that you can lend your voice and join thousands of fellow YTC advocates to protect patients:

• Share your story! This is the most important thing you can do. Your surprise medical billing stories are what will convince Congress to take-action and we’ve made it easy for you and your loved ones to share your experiences with surprise medical billing. All you need to do is click this link and you will be directed to our story portal where you can quickly and easily share your story.
• Email and Tweet your members of Congress! With just a few clicks and in as little as 30 seconds you can send a pre-filled, fully editable letter and Tweet directly to your members of Congress. Whether you’ve received a surprise bill or not, this easy action will help build momentum for the issue in Congress. Just click this link and take-action in seconds!
• SHARE! SHARE! SHARE! Please tell your friends and family about this campaign. It can be as simple as sending an email or sharing a post on Facebook and Twitter encouraging them to take-action. Every bit helps and every extra voice we can add to the campaign will go toward putting an end to the harmful practice of surprise medical billing.

Thanks to all the YTC advocates who have already participated, we’ve made a splash on Capitol Hill. With your continued help we can turn the splash into a tidal wave! To protect patients from surprise medical bills and make real change, we need as many voices in the campaign as possible. Please share the campaign and the story portal link on your social media networks and encourage your friends and family to participate!

Stay tuned for more updates on this campaign and for more ways to protect patients!