The AACU joined the AMA and 28 other medical and specialty societies to express strong concerns over unfair business practices with respect to electronic payments in health care. The October 14, 2021, correspondence reads, in part:
We request that the Biden Administration swiftly address this problem by (a) issuing guidance that affirms physicians’ right to choose and receive basic EFT payments without paying for additional services and (b) undertaking the associated enforcement activities.
The coalition goes on to recommend:
✅ CMS should swiftly issue guidance stating that all health plans and their contracted vendors must offer at least one EFT standard transaction that does not require purchase of extra services for an additional fee.
✅ This guidance should also require full transparency from health plans and their contracted vendors in all EFT enrollment communications, to include (a) the clear option to select basic EFT without additional fees and (b) for any enhanced options with additional costs, a complete description of the “value-added” services and associated fees.
✅ The CMS Division of National Standards should appropriately enforce compliance with this guidance, to ensure that health plans and their vendors are offering physicians the option of receiving EFT without additional services/fees and that this choice is clearly communicated in all EFT enrollment materials.