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Bipartisan efforts to protect patients from “surprise” medical bills are regaining momentum after stalling out over the summer. Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the chairman of the Senate health panel announced a deal Sunday they said would rely on “a new system for independent dispute resolution often called arbitration." The lawmakers didn't elaborate. (Roubein and Luthi, 12/8)

The proposal would prevent doctors from sending unexpected bills to patients when they are treated in a hospital that accepts their insurance, and would establish a system for resolving related billing disputes between those doctors and insurance companies. “It is long past time that Congress protect patients and families from the devastating financial toll of surprise medical bills, and this agreement puts an end to this egregious billing practice,” said Frank Pallone Jr., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “I’m hopeful that this bipartisan, bicameral agreement can be voted on quickly so that it can be signed into law before the end of the year.” (Sanger-Katz, 12/8)

“I do not think it is possible to write a bill that has broader agreement than this among Senate and House Democrats and Republicans on Americans’ number one financial concern: what they pay out of their own pockets for health care,” Alexander said. “Congress should pass the bill promptly and give the American people a very good Christmas present.” Senate HELP Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., did not sign on to Sunday’s announcement, but a spokeswoman said she is working with the other lawmakers on a final agreement. (McIntire, 12/8)

The deal also includes other health care measures, such as an extension of funding for community health centers, raising the purchasing age for tobacco to 21 and drug pricing transparency measures. Backers of the deal are hoping to include it in a must-pass government funding deal that faces a Dec. 20 deadline. There are still obstacles, though. Congressional leadership has not yet signed on to the deal. (Sullivan, 12/8)

After Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick rebuked Texas Medical Board staff for proposing a rule that he said would have undermined a new law that protects patients against surprise medical billing, the board on Friday axed the plans. The board’s proposed rule would have required all physicians to provide patients who are set to undergo a nonemergency medical procedure with a waiver outlining out-of-network charges and agreeing to pay those charges. Patient advocates feared the language would have allowed surprise billing to occur in all nonemergency health services. (Chang, 12/6)

With Democrats debating Medicare for All and public-option health plans, healthcare CEOs have become surprisingly open to the idea of negotiated caps on provider payment rates, according to Modern Healthcare’s latest Power Panel survey. While expressing strong misgivings about those Democratic reform proposals, 75% of CEOs responding to the survey last month said their organization could live with some form of price caps as long as their industry had the opportunity to negotiate reasonable levels. (Meyer, 12/7)