Hospital Mergers a Side Effect of Surprise Bills Plans, CBO Warns (1)

Hospital consolidation could increase under a Senate proposal to clamp down on unexpected, expensive medical bills, the Congressional Budget Office warned in a preliminary assessment.

While several economists disagreed with the nonpartisan budget office’s assessment, the finding could complicate Senate efforts to tackle surprise medical bills because Congress doesn’t want to be perceived as driving more hospital mergers.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has a collection of measures to address unexpected medical bills caused by a patient unknowingly receiving coverage from an out-of-network provider.

The package would create an arbitration process for bills, let providers choose to ...