Madison–State Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette), Co-Chair of the Joint Committee released the following statement:
“I am proud to see that the bipartisan bill I authored to help with healthcare affordability across Wisconsin passed out of the Assembly with unanimous support,” said Rep. Nygren. “Assembly Bill (AB) 841 simply clarifies that Wisconsin health care providers may offer discounts to their patients who owe health insurance cost-sharing amounts and pay those amounts in a timely fashion. This would apply to common patient payments such as copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.”
AB 841 is crafted to align the state statute with federal rules and guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. AB 841 would recognize that, under Wisconsin law, health care providers may offer a prompt-pay discount if, among other things, the discount, except as otherwise required by law, is not publicly advertised, the provider notifies the insurer of the provider’s discount policy, and the discount bears a reasonable relationship to the amount of avoided collection costs.
“I would like to extend a thank you to my bipartisan co-authors, Representative Kolste, Senator Kooyenga, and Senator Erpenbach, for their work on this important bill,” said Rep. Nygren. “I look forward to working this bill through the Senate and presenting it to Governor Evers.”
