California Supreme Court Rules No Balance Billing for Emergency Services

OPEN MINDS Weekly News Wire Strategic Health Care News On January 8, 2009, the California Supreme Court ruled that charges for emergency room services provided to patients who are enrolled in a health maintenance organization (HMO) by physicians who are not part of the HMO’s network cannot be billed to the patient if the HMO payment for out-of-network services is deemed insufficient. The ruling means an end to the practice of balance billing, in which the patient receives a bill from a provider for the remainder of the bill left after the patient’s insurance pays the . . .