AHA Applauds Bipartisan Bill to Cut Health Care Costs

The American Hospital Association (AHA) praised the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions last week for putting forward bipartisan legislation aimed at reducing the cost of health care. The bill addresses surprise medical bills, the price of prescription drugs, public health, health care transparency and health information technology. AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels released a statement expressing the association’s appreciation for the lawmakers’ effort to invest in public health and ensure patient access to drugs and health care services. He also offered a remedy for surprise billing—eliminating balance billing for emergency and in-network services—and expressed concern about provisions in the bill that would allow government intrusion into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. “Specifically, banning so-called ‘all or nothing’ clauses could lead to even more narrow networks with fewer provider choices for patients, while adversely affecting access to care at rural and community hospitals,” he wrote. (AHA Today story, 5/23/19)