WASHINGTON – Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Senior Vice President Justine Handelman issued the following statement today in response to the new amendment being considered by the Energy and Commerce Committee during today’s markup on surprise billing. 

“We believe strongly that patients must be protected from receiving a surprise bill when they have done all they can to receive care within their health plan’s medical network. The fairest, most transparent and predictable way to settle payments to out-of-network clinicians is through a clearly defined payment benchmark based on the rate paid to in-network physicians in a given area. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that this method saves nearly $25 billion. It’s vital that lawmakers crafting legislation maintain the benchmark protections and reject establishment of a cumbersome arbitration process that will raise costs for everyone.”