[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6855 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6855

                  To ensure timely bills for patients.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 19, 2023

Mr. Gallagher introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                  To ensure timely bills for patients.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Timely Bills for Patients Act''.

SEC. 2. TIMELY BILLS FOR PATIENTS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Amendment.--Part P of title III of the Public Health 
        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at 
        the end the following:

``SEC. 399V-7. TIMELY BILLS FOR PATIENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall require--
            ``(1) health care facilities, or in the case of 
        practitioners providing services outside of such a facility, 
        practitioners, to provide to patients a list of services 
        rendered during the visit to such facility or practitioner, 
        and, in the case of a facility, the name of the provider for 
        each such service, upon discharge or by postal or electronic 
        communication as soon as practicable and not later than 5 
        calendar days after discharge; and
            ``(2) health care facilities and practitioners to send all 
        adjudicated bills to the patient as soon as practicable, but 
        not later than 45 calendar days after discharge.
    ``(b) Payment After Billing.--No patient may be required to pay a 
bill for health care services any earlier than 30 calendar days after 
receipt of a bill for such services.
    ``(c) Effect of Violation.--
            ``(1) Notification and refund requirements.--
                    ``(A) Provider lists.--If a facility or 
                practitioner fails to provide a patient a list as 
                required under subsection (a)(1), such facility or 
                practitioner shall report such failure to the 
                Secretary.
                    ``(B) Billing.--If a facility or practitioner bills 
                a patient after the 45-calendar-day period described in 
                subsection (a)(2), such facility or practitioner 
                shall--
                            ``(i) report such bill to the Secretary; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) refund the patient for the full 
                        amount paid in response to such bill with 
                        interest, at a rate determined by the 
                        Secretary.
            ``(2) Civil monetary penalties.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may impose civil 
                monetary penalties of up to $10,000 a day on any 
                facility or practitioner that--
                            ``(i) fails to provide a list required 
                        under subsection (a)(1) more than 10 times, 
                        beginning on the date of such tenth failure;
                            ``(ii) submits more than 10 bills outside 
                        of the period described in subsection (a)(2), 
                        beginning on the date on which such facility or 
                        practitioner sends the tenth such bill;
                            ``(iii) fails to report to the Secretary 
                        any failure to provide lists as required under 
                        paragraph (1)(A), beginning on the date that is 
                        45 calendar days after discharge; or
                            ``(iv) fails to send any bill as required 
                        under subsection (a)(2), beginning on the date 
                        that is 45 calendar days after the date of 
                        discharge or visit, as applicable.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--The provisions of section 1128A 
                of the Social Security Act, other than subsections (a) 
                and (b) and the first sentence of subsection (c)(1) of 
                such section, shall apply to civil money penalties 
                under this subsection in the same manner as such 
                provisions apply to a penalty or proceeding under 
                section 1128A of the Social Security Act.
            ``(3) Safe harbor.--The Secretary may exempt a practitioner 
        or facility from the penalties under paragraph (2)(A) or extend 
        the period of time specified under subsection (a)(2) for 
        compliance with such subsection if a practitioner or facility--
                    ``(A) makes a good faith attempt to send a bill 
                within 30 days but is unable to do so because of an 
                incorrect address; or
                    ``(B) experiences extenuating circumstances (as 
                defined by the Secretary), such as a hurricane or 
                cyberattack, that may reasonably delay delivery of a 
                timely bill.''.
            (2) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate final 
        regulations to define the term ``extenuating circumstance'' for 
        purposes of section 399V-7(c)(3)(B) of the Public Health 
        Service Act, as added by paragraph (1).
    (b) Group Health Plan and Health Insurance Issuer Requirements.--
Subpart II of part A of title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300gg-11) is amended by adding to the end the following:

``SEC. 2729A. TIMELY BILLS FOR PATIENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--A group health plan or health insurance issuer 
offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall have in 
place business practices with respect to in-network facilities and 
practitioners to ensure that claims are adjudicated in order to 
facilitate facility and practitioner compliance with the requirements 
under section 399V-7(a).
    ``(b) Clarification.--Nothing in subsection (a) prohibits a 
provider and a group health plan or health insurance issuer from 
establishing in a contract the timeline for submission by either party 
to the other party of billing information, adjudication, sending of 
remittance information, or any other coordination required between the 
provider and the plan or issuer necessary for meeting the deadline 
described in section 399V-7(a)(2).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall take effect 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
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