Protecting the patients

I completely agree with the Oct. 1 guest opinion, “We need a fair system to stop surprise medical bills” (James M. Burkman, MD). Most of these surprise bills occur either from unplanned or emergency care from an out-of-network provider. However, it can also occur even when a patient and their family have the luxury of time to do due diligence regarding a medical procedure.

For example, a patient can get approval from their insurer that after a co-pay the insurer would cover the cost of a procedure. Only to find out months later, that a medical professional assisting with the procedure was out-of-network. The patient did everything right, but would still end up with a separate, surprise bill for a balance above and beyond what insurance agreed to pay.

It is great that the state Legislature passed a law and it includes the fair and transparent model of arbitration, as opposed to benchmarking. But, we still need Congress to pass a federal law to make sure everyone is protected and access to care is protected.

John J. Damm

Spokane