Analysis Group and Stanford University Study Details Impact of California's "Balance Billing" Law on the Cost of Anesthesia Care
The 2017 law's impact on the cost for anesthesiology services provided in network has been contentious, yet has not been fully studied until now.
- The 2017 law's impact on the cost for anesthesiology services provided in network has been contentious, yet has not been fully studied until now.
- The results suggest that the California law's implementation was associated with a statistically significant decline in payments for out-of-network anesthesia care (by 13.6%, or $108 on average) and an increase in payments for in-network anesthesia care (by 3%, or $87 on average).
- The analysis did not find a statistically significant change in the portion of claims occurring out of network.
- The study, titled "Association Between 'Balance Billing' Legislation and Anesthesia Payments in California: A Retrospective Analysis," was published in the July issue of Anesthesiology .