Over the past couple years, it's become clear that even if you have health insurance in the U.S., you're still susceptible to receive pricey medical bills—many of which can be a complete surprise.
The stories have been everywhere. Elisabeth Rosenthal's series in the New York Times spotlighted many of them, such as an insured patient who was saddled with a $117,000 hospital bill from an unknown, out-of-network assistant surgeon. Surprise bills have even popped up in less obvious places, like urgent-care clinics.
What has frustrated patients is that these charges roll in even though they did research and, presumably, went to an in-network hospital or saw in-network physicians.
The federal government wants these stories to end.
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