1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Consumers frequently struggle to determine when and how much they will pay for a medical service or procedure. A majority of consumers say health care providers rarely, if ever, discuss costs of recommended treatments and whether these treatments are covered by health insurance. Almost 70 percent of patients who receive bills from out-of-network providers did not realize the provider was out-of-network at the time of treatment. Patients using in-network facilities still receive claims from out-of- network providers at high rates, over 15 percent of inpatient admissions and 5 percent of outpatient service days. Even when patients try to schedule an in-network procedure at an in-network hospital and try to ensure that all providers who administer treatment will be in-network, they may be sent a balance bill by an out-of-network provider after receiving care. If providers accepted the same health plans as the facilities at which they practice and administer care, out-of-network surprise medical bills would not be a complication for consumers scheduling elective procedures. (2) Surprise medical bills affect a sizeable portion of the insured population. Approximately 30 percent of individuals covered by private health insurance have received a surprise medical bill within the past year. Almost 20 percent of inpatient admissions by enrollees in large employer plans include at least 1 claim from an out-of-network provider, while 8 percent of outpatient service days include an out-of-network claim. (3) Surprise medical bills are an issue of particular concern to consumers. A majority of Americans feel that softening the impact of surprise medical bills should be a priority for the current Congress. Eighty-six percent of Americans think it is important to protect individuals from surprise medical bills.