Helaine I. Fingold, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Baltimore office, was quoted in Modern Healthcare, in “Surprise Bill Resolutions' Path Forward Hinges on Final Rule,” by Maya Goldman. (Read the full version – subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt:

The portal to file surprise billing independent dispute resolution claims opened on Friday, but there’s a chance the process through which claims are resolved could shift in the coming months. …

But reverting back to a system where arbiters base decisions primarily off the median contracted rate would be difficult, said Helaine Fingold, a lawyer at Epstein Becker Green specializing in health insurance regulation and a former CMS regulator.

“At some point, even though they may have a policy goal, there’s also the goal of some predictability for stakeholders, and that’s not a small consideration,” said Fingold, who previously worked as a regulator at CMS. “I find it unlikely that they would use this [guidance] as a placeholder, thinking, oh, we’ll come back to our old approach as soon as we have the opportunity.”

With the dispute decision claims portal now open, further changes to the process could possibly be even more difficult to implement. A payment decision on a disputed claim needs to be reached within 30 business days after an arbiter is selected, and with providers and payers able to file claims starting last week, many claims will likely be resolved before CMS finalizes its rule on the process.

“There’s a point at which they need to make a decision and move on. We’re really past the point. We’re already in operation,” Fingold said.

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