Question
What is the association of state surprise-billing legislation with prices paid to anesthesiologists in hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers?
Findings
This retrospective economic analysis of more than 2.5 million claims filed for patients with private health insurance who received anesthesia services in hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers from 2014 to 2017 found that prices paid to out-of-network anesthesiologists at in-network facilities and to in-network anesthesiologists decreased in California, Florida, and New York after each state passed comprehensive surprise-billing legislation.
Meaning
State surprise-billing legislation appears to directly lower out-of-network prices and indirectly lower in-network prices by changing payer-practitioner negotiating dynamics.