Court blocks aspects of surprise billing rule

In what is being viewed as a victory for doctors, a federal judge eliminated vital parts of the no surprise act rule, according to a report in The Hill.

Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle set aside parts of a recent rule that creates a new federal dispute resolution (IDR) process. The process is mandated under the No Surprises Act (NSA), a federal law that offers patients protection from the most common types of surprise out-of-network bills.

While Kernodle did not touch the IDR process, he did set aside parts of the IDR regulations that dictate how much health insurers can pay doctors, The Hill reported.

In his decision, Kernodle wrote: “In sum, the court holds that plaintiffs have standing to challenge the departments’ September 2021 interim final rule implementing the No Surprises Act, the rule conflicts with the unambiguous terms of the act, the departments improperly bypassed notice and comment in implementing the challenged portions of the rule, and vacatur and remand is the proper remedy.”

Read the full decision here.