Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

The full Oklahoma Senate has given unanimous approval to a measure authored by Republican Senator Julie Daniels of Bartlesville, which takes aim at surprise medical bills and the financial devastation that can follow.

Under the provisions of Senate Bill 548, Sen. Daniels said a health care provider would be prohibited from reporting a healthcare debt to a credit bureau or pursue collection activities unless a good faith estimate of the cost of the procedure of care was presented before the service was provided. She said the aftermath of health care can be financially devastating to people because they had no idea they were going to be hit with these bills before the care was provided.

According to Sen. Daniels, over 50-percent of bankruptcies are due to medical debt. Sen. Daniels said patients need to know up-front what the cost is going to be so they aren't hit with surprise bills that can wipe out their finances and ruin their credit. She said SB 548 is a consumer protection bill the encourages price transparency.

The bill also addresses emergency services in case the patient is not able to make an informed choice regarding their care. In those cases, Sen. Daniels said an insured patient could only be charged the rates for an in-network facility or provider, which can be significantly less the amount charged for those out-of-network. For those who are uninsured, Sen. Daniels said the amount charged can be no more than 165-percent of Medicare.

SB 548 now moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration. Republican Rep. Tammy Townley of Ardmore is the House principal author of the measure.