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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><img width=540 height=163 style='width:5.625in;height:1.6979in' id="m_-7835614069456891615gmail-m_-8812551497387718317gmail-m_-680625089083050367m_-4761171347054414624m_3707413379897925782Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D80866.93C9C530"></span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='margin-left:15.0pt;margin-top:7.5pt;margin-right:15.0pt;margin-bottom:7.5pt' id="m_-7835614069456891615gmail-m_-8812551497387718317gmail-m_-680625089083050367m_-4761171347054414624m_3707413379897925782content"><div style='border-top:solid #7F7F7F 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #7F7F7F 1.0pt;border-right:none;padding:4.0pt 0in 4.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#7F7F7F'>January 11, 2022</span></b><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div style='margin-top:11.25pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#DF0009'> </span></b><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:red'>Medical organizations continue to fight surprise-billing dispute process: 5 details</span></b><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0070C0'> </span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/medical-organizations-continue-to-fight-surprise-billing-dispute-process-5-details.html"><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1155CC'>Becker Hospital Review</span></a><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Alia Paavola <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>A coalition of medical organizations, including the Physicians Advocacy Institute and 16 state medical associations, filed an amicus brief supporting a legal challenge to the No Surprises Act dispute resolution process, according to a news release emailed to <i>Becker's.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Five things to know:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>1. The groups are supporting a lawsuit <a href="https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/hospital-physician-groups-sue-feds-over-surprise-billing-provision.html">filed by the American Hospital Association and American Medical Association.</a> The lawsuit challenges the dispute resolution process outlined in CMS' surprise-billing rule released Sept. 30. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>2. The lawsuit alleges that the independent dispute resolution process, which requires arbiters to first consider the health plan's median in-network rate as the appropriate reimbursement amount, unfairly favors health plans.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>3. Specifically, the medical organizations that filed the brief Jan. 4 argue that federal regulators ignored congressional intent of the No Surprises Act by relying almost exclusively on the median in-network billing rate to resolve billing disputes instead of considering a multitude of factors.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>4. "Physicians have an obligation to reinforce for the court just how far federal regulators walked away from the No Surprises Act's balanced approach to resolving payment disputes and explain how bypassing the law will unfairly empower insurers at the expense of patients and their physicians," said Dustin Corcoran, president of Physicians Advocacy Institute and CEO of the California Medical Association, both of which joined the amicus brief. "If the court allows this damaging example of regulatory overreach to stand, patients and physicians will pay the price."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.7pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>5. There are 26 physician organizations that joined the amicus brief. Read the full list of organizations <a href="http://www.physiciansadvocacyinstitute.org/Portals/0/assets/docs/Advocacy/PAI%20Press%20Release%20-%20Amicus%20Supporting%20AMA%20and%20AHA%20-%20Final%20(1).pdf?ver=geLydZzOWegt9m_EDNZkrw%3D%3D">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.95pt'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:45.95pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <b><span style='color:#7F7F7F'><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:45.95pt;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> </span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><strong><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Brian Potts</span></strong><b><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> MD, MBA</span></b><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><br>Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service</span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.5pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>Contact us at: </span><span style='color:black'><a href="mailto:calaaem.news.service1@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1155CC'>calaaem.news.service1@gmail.com</span></a></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'><br><br>For more articles, visit our </span><span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.aaem.org/get-involved/chapter-divisions/calaaem/news-service" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1155CC'>archives</span></a></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>. <br><br></span><span style='color:black'><a href="mailto:somcaaem@uci.edu" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;text-decoration:none'>To</span></a><a href="https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/calaaem" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#0070C0;text-decoration:none'> </span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1155CC'>unsubscribe</span></a></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'> from this list, visit our mail server.<br><br>Copyright (C) 2022. The California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (CAL/AAEM).</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;color:black'> </span><span style='color:black'><a href="http://www.calaaem.org/" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1155CC'>http://www.calaaem.org</span></a></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>. All rights reserved.<br><br>CAL/AAEM, a nonprofit professional organization for emergency physicians, operates the CAL/AAEM News Service solely as an educational resource for physicians. Dissemination of an article by CAL/AAEM News Service does not imply endorsement, agreement, or recommendation by CAL/AAEM News Service, CAL/AAEM, or AAEM.</span><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:#D9D9D9'><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black'>Follow CAL/AAEM on Facebook and Twitter and check 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