Sen. Cramer: Congress Passes Legislation to Curb Surprise Medical Billing

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) a member of the Senate Budget and Senate Banking committees, issued the following statement on Congress passing legislation to address surprise medical billing:

"Surprise medical billing is a convoluted process that leaves patients confused and financially hamstrung. Our legislation ensures providers and insurers handle payment disputes without putting patients in the middle of it. I am grateful we took action to protect patients and increase transparency in the health care industry."

Senator Cramer was a cosponsor of the STOP Surprise Medical Billing Act. Learn more here.

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) secured the inclusion of this legislation, which passed in December, in the year-end spending bill.

Additional health care provisions in this bill include:

Three-year extension of the Special Diabetes Program, which provides funding for research on Type 1 Diabetes.
Medicare Sequester Relief, extending critical relief for providers from the scheduled 2 percent Medicare sequester cuts until March 31, 2021.
Additional funding and reporting flexibilities for hospitals under the Provider Relief Fund (PRF).
A technical correction to allow the state of North Dakota to access more than $3.7 million of Community Service Block Grant money.

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