Surprise Medical Bills: OMG

On March 25th, the LA Times ran an article on the front page of the Business section entitled: “Surprise! You’re Covered For The Hospital, Not The Doctors.” In this case, while the hospital was within the patient's health insurance network, the physician providers were not. The thousands of dollars of unexpected bills that this patient received are known as “Surprise Medical Bills.”

In this episode, we share a more in-depth look at why “surprise bills” are so common, and how much physicians want to prevent the patient from ever receiving one. We explore the origins of “surprise billing” and what the most fair and equitable solutions might be.

About Our Guests

Our guests on the subject are Dr. Kaveh Matin, President and CEO of Allied Anesthesia Medical Group, Dr. Paul Yost, past President of the California Society of Anesthesiologists, and Dr. Leighton Smith, anesthesiologist and Medical Director of Hoag Orthopedic Institute, the hospital discussed in the LA Times article.