Federal Judge Tosses Portion of Surprise Medical Bill Rule (2)

A federal judge in Texas tossed out portions of a rule that established the arbitration process Congress called for to shield patients from surprise medical bills.

The government failed to follow the text of the No Surprises Act and proper notice and comment when it required arbitrators to select the amount closest to the median in-network rate in settling payment disputes between insurers and certain out-of-network health-care providers, Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas said in an order Wednesday.

“It is a ‘core administrative-law principle that an agency may not rewrite clear ...