[name]

In the preamble to suggested legislation, I think it’s important to provide rationale for why insurers should be responsible for collecting the cost sharing amount. It’s a tough sell as I can’t think of any other type of insurance where the deductible is directly paid to the service provider -home, auto, boat, etc. One argument could be that for emergency care, the cost-sharing amount is frequently greater than the provider’s bill, making medical billing unique versus, for example, collision damage to an auto. Non-payment by the patient of a high-deductible amount would often totally offset the physician’s bill whereas with non-medical cost-sharing amounts, non-payment by the insured only minimally impacts the service provider’s total bill.