ACEP President Vidor Friedman, MD, FACEP, has been busy on Capitol Hill as part of continued outreach to address out-of-network billing issues and other issues important to emergency medicine. During a busy two-day sprint, Dr. Friedman met with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee); Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R- Tennessee); Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), ranking member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP); HELP Committee Republican staff; staff for Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana); staff for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California); Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida); and Rep. Mike Burgess, MD (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. The following day, Dr. Friedman met with Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire), a member of the Senate Bipartisan Price Transparency Workgroup and author of her own surprise billing legislation, and finished the tour by attending a fundraiser with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia).

ACEP’s Washington, D.C., staff continues to supplement Dr. Friedman’s ongoing advocacy efforts with dozens of meetings with key legislators and other stakeholders. ACEP responded to a data request sent to a number of physician associations, groups, hospitals, and insurers by the Senate bipartisan transparency workgroup led by Sen. Cassidy that is developing federal legislation to address so-called “surprise bills.”