By capping out-of-network costs for individual health insurance plans, proposal would lead to lower costs and premiums

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is backing new legislation to combat escalating healthcare costs and lower premiums for Missourians in the individual health insurance market by capping out-of-network costs.

"I'm determined to find any and every avenue possible to lower healthcare costs for Missourians--and this proposal is an important piece of that effort," McCaskill said. "By expanding consumer protections in the individual market, this proposal would make significant strides in lowering costs and premiums for Missourians."

The Reducing Costs for Out-of-Network Services Act of 2018, of which McCaskill is an original cosponsor, would cap the amount that hospitals and physicians could charge uninsured patients and out-of-network patients who have individual market coverage. These protections are similar to safeguards that Medicare Advantage beneficiaries have already benefitted from for years, which have proven successful in holding down costs.

Continuing her work to bring down medical costs for Missourians, McCaskill recently released a draftbipartisan plan to help protect patients from surprise medical bills, which is intended to jumpstart discussions in Congress about how to best stop the use of balance billing--a practice where healthcare providers bill patients the difference between what insurance companies pay and what healthcare providers charge, which can be staggering amounts especially if the provider is outside of the insurance company's network.

McCaskill has made tackling rising healthcare costs in Missouri a top priority. Congress recently passed bipartisan proposals by McCaskill to put an end to pharmacy gag clauses that can prohibit pharmacists from telling customers that they could pay less for their prescription if they pay out of pocket. Additionally, following McCaskill's work to strengthen oversight of air ambulance service and address the trend of consumers being saddled with a growing share of costs, Congress passed several of her provisions to improve consumer protection and bring greater oversight to the air ambulance industry.