[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 121 (Thursday, July 18, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H7095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  0915
                       END SURPRISE MEDICAL BILLS

  (Mr. RUIZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate an important milestone in 
the fight to protect patients from unfair and expensive surprise 
medical bills.
  For too many middle-class families, receiving an unexpected and very 
expensive bill from an out-of-network provider is devastating and can 
lead to severe anxiety, depression, and financial ruin.
  That is why, yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee 
passed H.R. 3630, the No Surprises Act, a bill that will protect 
millions of hardworking Americans from receiving a surprise medical 
bill through no fault of their own.
  I am fighting to end surprise medical bills once and for all. The No 
Surprises Act includes my bipartisan amendment to create an independent 
arbitration process that keeps patients out of the middle and off the 
hook for surprise medical bills.
  As an emergency medicine physician, my life's work has been about 
putting patients first, and I am still fighting to put their health 
above all else.
  I thank Chairman Pallone for leading an open, inclusive, and 
collaborative process that has brought us one step closer to a 
bipartisan solution that protects patients and ends surprise medical 
bills.

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