Suprise Medical Billing

State officials work to provide protection from surprise medical bills in Tennessee

A family's budget.

Tennessee lawmakers have a plan to protect patients.

News 12's winston reed reached out to senator bo watson and representative robin smith to find out what they have in mind.

President trump approved a coronavirus relief and government funding bill that included protection from surprise billing for patients who seek medical attention.

Senator bo watson along with representative robin smith are working to push the same policy at the state level.

Despite patient protection from surprise billing being approved at the federal level, senator bo watson says a large number of tennesseans are still at risk of paying more than expected when they go to the doctor.

"for balanced billing to truly work for all patients and all types of coverage and non covered individuals, you have to have both a state and a federal solution" said sen.

Watson.

Representative robin smith helped get the bill through the state house.

Now, it moves to the senate.

Its goal is simple, give patients greater clarity about how much they'll have to pay.

"they should be informed on the front end by both their insurance carrier and or their provider to know what services are covered and are not covered" said rep.

Smith.

"i hope that my senate members and those that influence them will look at what congress has done and see that our bill aligns very closely with what the federal bill does" said sen.

Watson.

The patient protection bill has been introduced once again for the next legislative session which begins january 12th.

Reporting live in chattanooga, winston