Impact of the No Surprises Act: Significant Reduction in Patients' Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenses
A new study finds that the No Surprises Act enacted in 2022 has significantly lowered patients' out-of-pocket healthcare costs, saving nearly $600 annually per individual and reducing surprise billing among insured adults.
Recent research from Mass General Brigham and the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has shed light on the effects of the No Surprises Act, a bipartisan legislation enacted in 2022 to protect patients from unexpected medical bills. The study analyzed data from 17,351 adults with private insurance, comparing states that gained protections through the law against those with pre-existing surprise billing safeguards.
The findings reveal that the law led to a substantial decrease in out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, with individuals in intervention states experiencing an average annual savings of nearly $600. This indicates the law's effectiveness in shielding patients from surprise bills that previously could reach thousands of dollars, causing severe financial hardship.
Interestingly, while the law successfully reduced unexpected medical costs, it did not impact premium payments—monthly payments to insurance companies—contrary to initial expectations. Experts suggest that this may be due to certain providers leveraging loopholes and employing tactics to secure higher payments, often at the expense of patients.
Despite the positive outcomes, the research highlights that high healthcare expenses, such as those exceeding 10% of a family's income, remain largely unaffected by the law. This underscores the ongoing need for policy measures to address the broader issue of healthcare affordability and financial toxicity, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.
Lead author Dr. Michael Liu emphasized the importance of these findings in informing future policy efforts to improve healthcare affordability and protect patients from financial burdens associated with medical care.
Published in The BMJ, this study marks a significant step in evaluating the effectiveness of recent healthcare reforms aimed at reducing surprise billing and enhancing financial protection for American patients.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-patients-pocket-medical.html
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