WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Better Solutions for Healthcare submitted a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on behalf of a coalition of New York small business owners, labor leaders, community advocates and former elected officials that encourages the congressional leaders to take action on hospital dishonest billing. The coalition points to two pieces of bipartisan legislation, the SITE Act and FAIR Act, that would crackdown on this harmful practice.
“Dishonest billing is a major factor as to why New Yorkers pay 43% more for hospital care than the rest of the nation, according to The Empire Center. It is an example of hospital abuse that demands urgent reform,” said the group in its letter.
The ten coalition members cite the need for unique National Provider Identification numbers to prevent patients from being billed unfairly for treatment performed in a doctor’s office bought up by a hospital. In recent weeks, Better Solutions launched a new interactive website under our “Hospital Watch” initiative to highlight how harmful practices, such as dishonest billing, negatively affect patients in states across the country, including New York.
The letter can be read here.