Surprise Billing Spending Ends Amid Congressional Deadlock

Groups that spent millions of dollars opposing legislation to end “surprise” medical bills have largely closed their pocketbooks and gone silent as Congress declines to act.

Since May, two groups that each bankrolled competing pricey advertising campaigns aimed at swaying lawmakers in opposite directions on the issue have stopping airing television ads. Both Doctor Patient Unity, a group created by private equity firms, and the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing, made up of insurers and employers, haven’t bought airtime in either June or July, according to groups that monitor advertising purchases.

Lobbying spending by industry groups trying to influence the ...