New Illinois Law Requires Insurers’ Transparency for Payment Fees

September 20, 2024

This summer Gov. Pritzker signed an ISMS-backed bill into law which requires health insurance companies to allow physicians and other healthcare professionals to choose from among multiple payment methods and to disclose in advance any fees that might be associated with a given method.

The intent of the legislation was to make sure that physicians and healthcare professionals have payment options that don’t result in fees that benefit insurers and effectively further erode reimbursement rates. 

A new ISMS issue brief on health insurer reimbursement fees provides more detailed information on this new law.

ISMS has been a strong supporter of ongoing national efforts by the American Medical Association (AMA) to address this issue of insurers charging fees when they issue reimbursements to physicians. The AMA continues to pursue solutions that would ensure physicians have at least one reimbursement option that would be “fee-free.” ISMS previously joined a sign-on letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services with this key message: “Physicians are left with no option but to ‘pay to get paid.’

Questions? Please contact the ISMS Health Policy Research and Advocacy team by email.