Negotiators reach compromise on surprise medical billing, but fate of the legislation may rest with Senate Majority Leader McConnell

Will Mitch McConnell pass the bill as a going-away favor 
to Lamar Alexander? (Photo by Alex Wong, Getty Images)

Health insurance companies "are furiously lobbying Congress to tweak a last-minute deal on protecting Americans from surprise medical bills — one that is viewed as favoring doctors over them," The Washington Post reports. "But they’re up against a ticking clock, heavy influence from private-equity-backed physician groups — and the reality that the pandemic boosted their profits even as medical providers suffered."

The deal could be included in the must-pass measure to keep the government open, which could also include a massive pandemic relief bill. The fate of all could be in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who "hasn't said anything about it," the Post reports. "His office didn't respond to a query yesterday."

Surprise billing is a problem in Kentucky. "A 2018 survey found that 32% of privately insured Kentucky adults reported receiving a medical bill that included an unexpected expense in the previous year," Butler County Republican Party Chair Matthew Embry wrote in a Dec. 2 piece for the Courier Journal. "To make matters worse, 70% of patients who were hit with surprise medical bills had no idea they were receiving treatment from a provider outside of their insurance network. . . . If the patient can’t afford to pay astronomical surprise bills, they can be harassed by collection agencies, threatened with legal action and even forced into bankruptcy."

McConnell "has not shown any particular interest in addressing surprise medical bills more generally, despite the national outcry over them," Jordan Weissman writes for liberal-leading Slate. "The man tends to take his cues from the insurance industry (Humana is based in Kentucky), which probably isn’t happy" about the latest plan. However, "The driving force for this deal in the Senate has been Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, who is retiring this year, and who is extremely close with McConnell; the majority leader literally choked up while giving a goodbye speech to his friend from the chamber floor. People genuinely think there’s a chance McConnell might let this pass as a last hurrah for his buddy."

Embry concluded, "It is critical that Sen. McConnell focus his attention on passing fair, reasonable legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills in the coming weeks. The financial future of hundreds of thousands of Kentucky residents depends on it."

In a close look at the issue, the Post's Paige Winfield Cunningham writes, "Ensuring Americans don’t have to pay for out-of-network medical bills incurred through no fault of their own was expected to be a top priority for 2020. . . .The pandemic overtook most priorities on Capitol Hill, reshaping the legislative to-do list."