Idaho Patient Act is designed to benefit ALL Idahoans

Patients can manage their medical bills easier because the billing process is more transparent.

When you know what bills to expect, paying them is easier. You know when to expect them. You know what they are for. You know who will be sending them. That’s good news for patients. And it’s good news for doctors too. Because when patients are empowered to manage their medical bills, doctors can focus on treating patients.

Confusion over bills will be reduced—so bills are paid faster.

More transparency means less confusion. When patients aren’t confused by their bills, they pay them quicker. It increases trust for the patients, and increases revenue for doctors and other health care providers.

Doctors won’t need to resort to a formal collection process as often.

When patients understand their bills and even anticipate them, they’ll pay them quicker. And that means that doctors get paid quicker too. The percentage of medical debts that need to go to a formal collection process will go down. And that’s great news for doctors and health care providers. When a health care provider uses a third-party collection agency, it often costs them up to one-third of the total amount of the unpaid bill. With fewer debts going into formal collections, doctors will get more revenue and more peace of mind.

Billing errors can be identified and remedied before a patient is penalized.

Fair and consistent grace periods allow patients time to review their bills and identify possible errors before they experience negative consequences such as being sued or having a negative impact on their credit score.

Outrageous fees will be a thing of the past

In the even that a provider needs to sue a patient, the lawsuit will be more efficient and attorney fees are fair for all parties involved. The focus on the lawsuit will be on making sure the medical debt is paid—not a loophole attorneys can use to charge huge fees. Attorneys’ fees will be limited to a maximum of $350 for uncontested collection cases and $750 for cases that are contested except in unusual cases.

IPACT does not cost taxpayers anything extra

IPACT establishes transparency and unity in the medical community for the billing process. Doctors and health care facilities benefit by following IPACT practices, but it is entirely optional. IPACT doesn’t create additional regulation that can stifle economy and doesn’t cost anything to Idaho taxpayers. In fact, IPACT will likely have a positive benefit to Idaho’s economy overall.

Idaho Patient Act (or IPACT) creates an optional process of best practices that increases transparency in medical billing. It seems so simple, but everything is connected. When the process is more transparent, everyone involved with the medical community benefits.

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We Need Your Voice

Every Idahoan deserves the fairness that IPACT provides. But we can’t do that without you. Please contact Governor Little now.

Contact Governor Little