Fair and Honest Advance Cost Estimate for Patients Act of 2020
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Health.
Fair and Honest Advance Cost Estimate for Patients Act of 2020
This bill requires health care providers and private health insurance plans to provide certain estimates for the costs of services that are scheduled three or more business days in advance. Specifically, providers must inquire whether an individual scheduling such service is enrolled in a health plan, including a government health care program, and intends to seek benefits for the service under the plan. Within a specified time period prior to administering such service, the provider must submit to the individual’s plan, or to the individual if the individual is not enrolled in a plan, an estimate of expected charges for the service. Providers are subject to a maximum fine of $10,000 for each failure to provide such an estimate.
Within a specified time period after receiving an estimate from a provider for a service, private health insurance plans must provide the plan holder with specified benefits information that includes but is not limited to
the provider's estimated charge,
whether the provider is in-network,
the plan's estimated share of the amount,
the plan holder's estimated cost-sharing amount, and
the estimated amount remaining to meet the plan holder's deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 7, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 7, 2020: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Devin Nunes (R-CA) introduced it on February 7, 2020, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 7, 2020, 2407 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2407 days ago, on February 7, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers