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Commissioner Troy Downing Enters Collaborative Enforcement Agreement with Feds

Downing Signs agreement with CMS to enforce the No Surprises Act

Commissioner Troy Downing signed a Collaborative Enforcement Agreement today with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to enforce provisions of the No Surprises Act (NSA).

The No Surprises Act was signed into law by President Trump to protect Americans from surprise medical bills. This law came into effect January 1, 2022. The NSA protects insured patients from balance billing practices when using air ambulances and requires medical providers to offer a good faith estimate of the cost of procedures to insured or self-pay patients. The NSA also establishes an independent dispute resolution process to help uninsured or self-pay Montanans resolve disputes if the cost of service exceeds the good faith estimate by more than $400.

“Our job at CSI is to protect Montanans. We entered into this agreement with the Feds to ensure we are the first line of defense dealing with breaches of the No Surprises Act,” said Commissioner Downing. “We have more faith in timely action and resolution if our team fields complaints rather than waiting for the Federal Government to respond.”

CSI is actively engaged in outreach to educate consumers about the protections afforded by the NSA. CSI is also working with Montana health insurers and providers to better understand consumer protection issues afforded by the NSA.

For more information, contact the Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance at 406-444-2040 or by going to CSIMT.gov.