Committees query insurers, staffing companies about billing practices

Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees yesterday asked six health insurers and two physician staffing companies to provide certain information by Jan. 9 “to understand better why surprise billing occurs, the policies and practices that help protect individuals from surprise billing, and the current incentives behind the negotiations between providers and insurers." Anthem, Cigna, CVS Health, Health Care Service Corporation, Highmark and UnitedHealth Group were asked to provide information such as the number of beneficiaries with out-of-network charges for care, average reimbursement rates for physician services covered by staffing companies, and how they determine reimbursement for out-of-network physicians. Physician staffing companies Envision Healthcare and TeamHealth were asked about their ownership, management and reimbursement, the hospitals with whom they have contracted and the number of hospitals in their commercial insurance networks.