New Maine Law Will Change The Future (And Cost) of Medical Bills Across The State Forever

In an economy that has millions of Americans struggling to purchase a full cart of groceries and fill the gas tank in the same day, many other expenses can seemingly pile onto the endless list of "things to pay for."

One of those things is medical bills.

It seems that no matter how good your insurance is, many Mainers are always left with copays, surcharges and other bills for treatments and services they receive at Maine healthcare facilities.

However, thanks to the Maine legislature and a signature from Governor Janet Mills, some of those costs will be going down.

According to the Kennebec Journal, before the bill was signed into law, hospitals in Maine could bill hospital prices for services and treatments that were performed off-site at smaller clinics or out-patient facilities.

Part of the new law, which was signed by Mills last week, states that healthcare providers, as part of their billing practices, must specifically identify where the services and treatments they're billing for were performed, according to the KJ.

The news station reported that this will prevent businesses from up-charging hospital prices for things that weren't actually performed at a hospital.

President of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine, Denise McDonough, said in a prepared statement,

“At Anthem, we have seen claims come in showing hospitals billing for services like drug infusions at office locations that are off the hospital campus but billed as if the service had taken place at the hospital – where costs are much higher, both in terms of members’ out-of-pocket costs and employers’ premiums. Based on our claims data, drugs administered in an office location but billed as if administered in a hospital resulted in a double or even triple increase in the cost of those drugs. That’s wrong, and one of the many issues contributing to our healthcare affordability problem in Maine.”