EDPMA fully supports claims in the TMA lawsuit that simply ask that the No Surprises Act be followed as written so that the arbitrators charged with resolving payment disputes would not anchor the payment amount to the QPA and that their decision making is rooted in the statute.

MCLEAN, Va. (PRWEB)
October 20, 2022

The Emergency Department Practice Management Association (EDPMA) filed an amicus brief today in support of the Texas Medical Association (TMA), Dr. Adam Corley and Tyler Regional Hospital, LLC’s lawsuit against federal regulators challenging the implementation of the No Surprises Act (Rule) that clearly favors health plans.

Last fall, EDPMA, and the Virginia and Texas College of Emergency Physicians filed an amicus brief in support of TMA’s first lawsuit challenging federal regulators on the process to resolve reimbursement disputes between insurance plans and physicians, with special emphasis on the adverse effects the Rule threatens on the delivery of emergency care. The TMA plaintiffs won this lawsuit.

The court ruled that the NSA was not ambiguous and required that all the factors listed in the statute should be considered in determining the final payment amount. In the settled TMA case, the court clearly stated that the methodology used by health plans to calculate the QPA was incompatible with the No Surprises Act.

However, nothing really changed regarding how arbitrators resolved billing disputes between healthcare plans and physicians. In fact, arbitrators continue to unfairly skew independent dispute resolution (IDR) results in favor of insurers.

“EDPMA fully supports claims in the TMA lawsuit that simply ask that the No Surprises Act be followed as written so that the arbitrators charged with resolving payment disputes would not anchor the payment amount to the QPA and that their decision making is rooted in the statute. If the current final rule and de-facto benchmark standard goes unchecked, these practices go unchecked, emergency medicine physicians, their practices and their value as our nation’s healthcare safety net are in jeopardy. Access to emergency care – which was vital to assisting our country through the pandemic – will be compromised with fewer resources to emergency care while the health plans then and now continue to post record profits,” says Don Powell, DO, FACEP, EDPMA Chair of the Board.

EDPMA will continue to advocate for emergency medicine physicians and their practices to ensure fair reimbursement to protect patients and their in-network choices.

About EDPMA:

EDPMA is the nation’s only professional physician trade association focused on the delivery of high quality, cost-effective care in the emergency department. EDPMA’s membership includes emergency medicine physician groups of all sizes, as well as billing, coding, and other professional support organizations that assist healthcare providers in our nation’s emergency departments. Together, EDPMA’s members deliver or directly support health care for approximately half of the 146 million patients that visit U.S. emergency departments each year.

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