No Surprises Act + Good Faith Estimate

Last Updated: August 12, 2022

About

Starting January 1st, 2022:

You have the right to receive a "Good Faith Estimate" explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don't have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services.

Under the No Surprises Act, you have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services. You can ask your healthcare provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service.

If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, vou can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises.

RESOURCES

General website for the No Surprises Act: https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises

About Good Faith Estimates: https://www.cms.gov/ nosurprises/consumers/understanding-costs-inadvance

For more information about patient rights under federal law, visit: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/modeldisclosure-notice-patient-protections-against-surprisebilling-providers-facilities-health.pdf

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, now has authority to enter into collaborative enforcement agreements with the California Department of Insurance and the California Department of Managed Health Care to ensure consumers are properly notified of their billing rights and have a process to resolve billing disputes.

Surprise Medical Bills Fact Sheet for consumers: https://dmhc.ca.gov/portals/0/healthcareincalifornia/ factsheets/fsab72.pdf