New Brief on Proposals to Expand Medicare Private Contracting

Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released an issue brief on private contracting—also sometimes referred to as balance billing. The brief explains existing rules that determine what health care providers can and cannot charge their Medicare patients. It also summarizes proposals to relax these rules, allowing doctors to set any price they choose for services and to require people with Medicare to sign contracts to pay above Medicare approved amounts in order to receive care. This proposal has been in the news recently as one of its champions is Congressman Tom Price, the nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.