Good Faith Estimates – No Surprises Act

Editor’s Note: On April 5, 2022, CMS released a FAQ on Good Faith Estimates. Two issues were clarified and have changed in this article: 1) GFEs are not required for appointments made within 3 days, 2) GFE’s are a part of a patient’s full medical record. Those changes are reflected below.

Introduction

The No Surprises Act was passed at the end of 2020 as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Initially most experts believed that the No Surprises Act applied only to facility-based (such as hospital) providers; however, on the recent finalization of Part II of the rules, it became clearer that a specific portion applies to all health care providers.

One of the new No Surprises Act’s major goals is to ensure that patients do not receive health care bills that far exceed their awareness or expectations.  Although the most heralded portions of the law (usually pertaining to hospital services) do not apply to the vast majority of chiropractic physicians, another key provision pertaining to “good faith estimates” will apply to nearly all chiropractic offices beginning on January 1, 2022.  Health and Human Services (HHS) issued rules, FAQs, and other information pertaining to the No Surprises Act throughout late 2021. 

The Illinois Chiropractic Society has continued to review and decipher the new available information from law and rules as it has and continues to evolve and make the information available to our members.

The No Surprises is comprised of two major parts.  Part I is entitled: “Requirements Related to Air Ambulance Services, Agent and Broker Disclosures, and Provider Enforcement,” and Part II is “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II.” For reasons explained below, only Part II will apply to most chiropractic physicians.

Part I applies specifically to certain Medicare defined “facilities,” so it does not pertain to chiropractic physicians working in an office setting.  “Facilities” include a hospital setting, a Federally Qualified Health Center, or another type of defined facility.  At this time, offices that treat Medicare patients are not included in the definition of “facility”. Part I puts restrictions on air ambulance services and surprise billings from non-participating provider services in participating facilities (for example, an out-of-network anesthesiologist who provides services during surgery as part of a team of providers) and emergency service billings.

Part II, however, has a much broader application that does include chiropractic physicians. Its primary purpose is to better inform patients regarding the cost of care and require a “Good Faith Estimate.” Fortunately, the law limited the scope of this requirement to particular situations; however, it will still require all chiropractic physicians, whether insurance based, in-network, out of network, or cash, to make an initial determination for all patients whether a good faith estimate is required.

Although the No Surprises Act requires Good Faith Estimates (GFE) for both self-pay and insurance-based patients, HHS only issued rules for the patients who are uninsured or self-pay patients (see more information below). However, HHS is specifically excluding insured patients from current requirements (and enforcement) because the infrastructure is not available to provide meaningful information to the patient. This article will focus on the GFE requirements for uninsured or self-pay patients (Important:  see below for definitions of “uninsured” and “self-pay.”).

Important Note: This regulation will impact your office in some way, since the minimum requirements will include required questions of patients, posters in your office, additions to your website, and paperwork for Medicare patients.

The information in this article is based on the Interim Final Rule that was active on October 7, 2021, but is subject to change because it is still in the comment period. Additionally, these interpretations are based on the best information currently available. Some of these requirements MAY change from future updates to the rule or based on court rulings. Nonetheless, these requirements are in place and active beginning January 1, 2022. Patients will be fully aware of these rights since the requirements will be in place for all healthcare providers. As the ICS receives more information, we will update this article and inform our members of the changes.

What are Good Faith Estimates (GFEs)

One of the key concepts of the No Surprises Act is to ensure that patients do not receive medical bills that are greater than they anticipate. Although the vast majority of the law focuses on large surprises from air ambulance and non-participating physicians at participating hospitals, they also want patients to know in advance the cost of services being rendered in non-emergency settings.

The law goes a step further than simply requiring a price list of services offered in the practice. Instead, providers must provide during scheduling (or before scheduling, if the patient requests) a clear list of services (with prices) anticipated for the specific patient. 

Good Faith Estimates (or GFEs) have required elements:

A full listing of required elements and an editable template are below in the GFE Required Elements and Form section.

Providers must present the Good Faith Estimate in writing, but they can also present it orally. HHS has clarified that providers can satisfy the written requirement through electronic means, such as email (if requested) or a patient portal. However, they clarify that the patient MUST have the ability to “both save and print” the GFE.

Who Is Entitled to Receive a GFE?

As mentioned above, the law includes all patients. However, the infrastructure is not available to provide this information to health insurance-based patients. Therefore, currently, only uninsured or self-pay patients will be entitled to a GFE.

The rules define uninsured (or self-pay) individual to mean an individual who does not have benefits for an item or service through their health insurance. In short, a “self-pay” individual:

Note that under bullet point 2 above, an individual with a high deductible plan who counts payment for the service toward their deductible would not be self-pay; however, an individual with a high deductible plan who declines to apply their out-of-pocket payment to their deductible is self-pay. 

The staff person making the appointment 3 days or more in advance is required to inquire about the information in all of the bullet points above, and, if the patient is a self-pay individual, notify them about the GFE (see “How Will Patients Know About the GFEs?” Section).

Important Note About Medicare: Since the rules requirement includes “an individual who does not have benefits for an item or service under a” health insurance plan (including Medicare), the ICS believes providers will have to provide a GFE to Medicare patients for exams, modalities, and therapies.

How Will Patients Know About the GFEs?

HHS requires providers to inform patients of their rights to receive or request a Good Faith Estimate. As a result, providers are required to notify patients in three specific, clear, and understandable ways:

Health care offices must provide all three types of notices.  HHS has developed a template posting for the in-office posters. You can download that form here.

Additionally, you can use the same language in your website posting. However, do not simply upload the pdf to your website. Instead, you should make sure the language is in html format. This will ensure the “easily searchable from a public search engine” requirement is met. Click here to download a Word document with the HHS developed language.

Please remember that the rules require providers to notify self-pay patients that they are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate.

How to Implement the New GFE Requirements

These are examples of when a provider must give a GFE to patients.

Example 1: Patient calls to schedule an appointment for a new injury (no treatment plan)

When a patient calls to schedule an appointment 3 days or more in advance for a new injury and no treatment plan is yet in place (i.e. no Good Faith Estimate already exists), then the staff member taking the appointment that is 3 days or more in advance must take specific steps at the time the appointment is being made:

When the patient arrives and requests a copy, simply make and provide a copy of the GFE form already in their file.

Example 2: After the doctor determines a treatment plan to patient

When the doctor determines the proper course of treatment and presents the plan to the patient (i.e., report of findings), this is the appropriate time to also present the patient with a Good Faith Estimate.

Although many of our doctors already require patients to sign a financial policy and other forms when patients are presented with treatment plans,, for self-pay and uninsured patients, doctors will also have to present a form with the required GFE elements

When is the Good Faith Estimate Given to Patient?

The deadline for giving a patient the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) is based on when the patient makes a request, or schedules an appointment is scheduled. Use this list that is based on the date an appointment scheduled (in business days):

* Note: CMS released a FAQ that clarified that the “requirement to provide a GFE to an uninsured (or self-pay) individual […] is not triggered upon scheduling an item or service if the item or service is being scheduled fewer than 3 business days before the date the item or service is expected to be furnished.”

Other Services Provided by Outside Entities (i.e., lab work)

Editor’s Note: Although the rules have included a one-year delay on enforcement of the requirement to include co-provider fees in the GFE, the ICS believes it is important to begin this process now. Implementing this requirement now will allow chiropractic physicians to have all procedures, pricing, and coordination in place by the commencement of enforcement on January 1, 2023. IMPORTANT – this enforcement delay is ONLY for inclusion of the co-provider amounts on the GFE. HHS has announced no delay on enforcement for all remaining requirements as of January 1, 2022.

Interestingly, the rule requires that providers initiating the appointment gather fee information from other potential providers (called co-providers) that will bill patients directly. Although this requirement will most impact providers in hospital settings, the requirement applies to chiropractic physician offices, as well.

The most common types of co-providers situations in chiropractic physician offices would be labs (typically functional medicine), radiologist readings, and physical therapy (independent PTs). As a physician, you will need to use your professional judgment to make the best determination regarding what types of potential co-providers might be needed for a particular patient.

The rules require that the “provider or facility contact all applicable co-providers and co-facilities no later than 1 business day after the request for the good faith estimate is received or after the primary item or service is scheduled, and request submission of expected charges for items or services that meet the requirements for co-providers and co-facilities. [emphases added].” This means that you are required to contact co-providers quickly to determine their potential charges.

Co-provider amounts are required to be included in the Good Faith Estimate statement to the patient.

Example: If you utilize functional medicine approaches in your practice and your typical patients require lab work that is billed by the lab, then the anticipated lab charges should be included in your Good Faith Estimate for the patient.

GFE Required Elements and Downloadable Form

The law and rules require that the Good Faith Estimate form include very specific information. As a result, the ICS has developed an editable template for our members. Here is a full list of required elements:

Each of the above elements must be included.  However, HHS does not require a specific form, as long iti contains the required elements HHS has developed a usable form, but it is multiple pages long and complex. You can find their sample form here.

The ICS has developed a shorter form that includes the elements above (except the separate scheduling portion also not included in the HHS form). Members can access that form here.

Please remember that providers must present the Good Faith Estimate in writing, but they can also present it orally. HHS has clarified that providers can satisfy the written requirement through electronic means, such as email (if requested) or a patient portal. However, they clarify that the patient MUST have the ability to “both save and print” the GFE.

Downloads

Required poster for your office

Language for your website (easy to cut and paste Word document)

Editable Sample Good Faith Estimate Form – This form has the required elements but can be edited (including adding more rows). Additionally, you can indicate a range of charges if listed services are uncertain.

Conclusion

As indicated above, these requirements are in place as of January 1, 2022, and should not be ignored or postponed. Additionally, the information in this article is based on the Interim Final Rule that was active on October 7, 2021, but could change after the comment period. Additionally, these interpretations are based on the best information currently available. Some of these requirements MAY change from future updates to the rule or based on court rulings. However, providers should implement now.

As the ICS receives more information and clarification, we will update this article and inform our members of the changes.