Ban on some surprise medical bills for now

For those worried about medical bills in the context of the current pandemic, Kaiser Health News highlighted some potentially welcome news that the Department of Health and Human Services may have banned all surprise medical billing from providers who accept money from Medicare. There is some question as to whether how broadly people should interpret the condition of receiving emergency funds to fight the pandemic.

What might happen is that some patient will still get a surprise medical bill, and a lawsuit might ensue. It might then be up to a jury or a judge, followed by the opinions of appellate courts, to decide which interpretation to take. Hopefully, by then, the worst of this pandemic will be behind us.