"Surprise billing" occurs when a person receives health care in a facility or from a provider that is covered by the person's health plan, but a portion of their care is rendered by an out-of-network provider. In some instances, the person receives an unexpected bill for these out-of-network services. For example, a person who undergoes surgery may receive a bill from an anesthesiologist who was out-of-network even though the surgeon and hospital were in-network with the person's health plan. These "surprise" bills are often for significant amounts of money that exceed charges that would be covered in-network and can cause confusion for patients who had assumed their health plan would cover their medical care at agreed to in-network rates. For more information regarding surprise billing, please visit:
To avoid Surprise Billing you must ask the Hospital if everyone who will be assisting in the operation is part of your insurance company network. If they are not, then tell them you will need to find a hospital whose services are all in your network or they need to have all service providers in the network. Remind them of the Michigan “Surprise Billing Law”. There are only a few hospitals in Michigan that have not yet engaged in Surprise Billing. Henry Ford and University of Michigan Hospitals. If you would like some examples of Surprise Billing, please give us a call and we can review some of the cases our clients have experienced.
