The federal No Surprises Act is estimated to have prevented more than 10 million surprise medical bills during the first nine months of 2023, according to a Jan. 26 report from AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
The findings come from a November survey of 21 health insurance providers representing 65% of the total commercial market, according to the report.
Four things to know:
1. During the first three quarters of 2023, there were an estimated 10.1 million NSA-eligible claims, which represents about 0.7% of all commercial claims processed by insurers.
2. The majority of NSA-eligible claims were resolved through an initial payment, as required by law.
3. Fewer than a quarter of NSA-eligible claims entered the law's 30-day open negotiation process. Of those that did, 73% were resolved without initiating the IDR process.
4. For almost 80% of NSA-eligible claims resolved without IDR, providers accepted the initial payment offered by insurers.
Read the full report here.