Senators introduce bipartisan bill to lower health care costs
Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., introduced the Lower Health Care Costs Act () this week and released a section-by-section of the bill. American Hospital Association (AHA) Executive Vice President Tom Nickels praised lawmakers for including provisions that hold patients harmless from surprise medical bills, invest in public health, lower prescription drug costs and enhance health information technology. At the same time, he called the legislation鈥檚 reliance on a benchmark payment rate to resolve payment disputes between plans and out-of-network providers 鈥渦nworkable.(AHA News , 6/19/19)