WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House on Friday afternoon about the latest actions his administration is taking to help lower health care costs and limit so-called insurance junk fees to consumers.
“Too many Americans lie in bed, staring at the ceiling worrying what will happen if their spouse gets seriously ill,” Biden said, highlighting a series of regulatory moves that the White House announced in a fact sheet earlier in the day.
Among the administration’s new efforts are proposed rules that would close loopholes that let companies offer “misleading insurance products that can discriminate based on pre-existing conditions and trick consumers into buying products that provide little or no coverage when they need it most,” the White House said.
Actions taken by the Trump administration had allowed insurance companies to take advantage of those loopholes, it added.
In his remarks, Biden said that under a new rule, insurance companies would be required to provide a clear disclaimer upfront about what’s covered, “instead of burying it in fine print.”
Biden said that his administration will also be rolling out new rules to further curb surprise medical billing, with the goal of protecting millions of Americans who receive unexpected bills for health care they thought was in-network and covered by their insurance.
The White House estimated that surprise bills can cost people an average of $750 to $2,600.
“Evading the law and playing games to charge crazy, outrageous prices has to end,” Biden said.
The administration also said it will issue guidance to make clear that it’s illegal under federal law for health plans that contract with hospitals to claim that they are not technically in-network.
“Health care services provided by these providers are either out-of-network and subject to the surprise billing protections,” the White House said, “Or they are in-network and subject to the ACA’s annual limitation on cost-sharing, further protecting consumers from excessive out-of-pocket costs.”
The administration will also make clear that health plans and providers must make information about “facility fees” for care provided outside of hospitals, like at a doctor’s office, available to consumers, according to the fact sheet.
In addition, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department are planning to collaborate on determining whether health care providers are complying with consumer protections when signing up patients for third-party medical credit cards.
The White House said these new actions are part of the president’s economic vision, recently dubbed “Bidenomics.”
In his remarks, the president argued that Bidenomics is “restoring the American dream,” which has been limited “to those at the top.”
Biden previously announced efforts to target junk fees in his State of the Union address this year, saying “junk fees may not matter to the very wealthy, but they matter to most other folks in homes like the one I grew up in, like many of you did.”
The Biden administration has been trying to tackle extra fees that have led to higher costs for consumers in other industries, such as when people travel or order tickets for a concert or sporting event.
