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1/ One in three emergency room admissions in Texas results in a surprise medical bill.
Thousands of Texans asked for the state to help them in 2018.
It overwhelmed the consumer protection bureaucracy. bit.ly/2TIck8K
Thousands of Texans asked for the state to help them in 2018.
It overwhelmed the consumer protection bureaucracy. bit.ly/2TIck8K
2/ Surprise medical bills, or balance billing, result when insurers and health care providers can’t agree on the price of a medical treatment.
bit.ly/2TIck8K
bit.ly/2TIck8K
3/ There are plenty of examples — including an Austin school teacher who received a $109,000 surprise bill after suffering a heart attack.
bit.ly/2TIck8K
bit.ly/2TIck8K
4/ The state’s mediation program was created in 2009, but many Texans didn’t qualify until reforms in 2015 and 2017.
Now more Texans are asking for help than ever. bit.ly/2TIck8K
Now more Texans are asking for help than ever. bit.ly/2TIck8K
5/ Texas received just 43 requests for mediation in 2013.
In 2014, the number surged to 600+.
The requests hit a record high of 4,519 in 2018.
8,000 are expected this year.
bit.ly/2TIck8K
In 2014, the number surged to 600+.
The requests hit a record high of 4,519 in 2018.
8,000 are expected this year.
bit.ly/2TIck8K
6/ In 2018 alone, Texas received complaints about $8.8 million in qualifying surprise bills.
After just the informal telephone conference, insurers coughed up $1.6 million more for those cases.
bit.ly/2TIck8K
After just the informal telephone conference, insurers coughed up $1.6 million more for those cases.
bit.ly/2TIck8K
7/ But there's one glaring omission in the records tracked by the state: How much relief was passed on to the consumer? bit.ly/2TIck8K
8/8 “What we hear anecdotally is [that with] the additional payments, pretty much always, the bill goes away. That's what we hear over and over from the consumer: ‘I didn't get another bill.’” bit.ly/2TIck8K
