; . 70310. Sense of Congress regarding surprise medical bills (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Surprise medical bills can be financially devastating for consumers. (2) Surprise medical bills are often unavoidable and occur in situations where consumers have no ability to reasonably choose an in-network provider or insurance company networks are too narrow for consumers to be able to access seamless in-network care. (3) Consumers and their financial stability should not be caught in the middle between insurance companies and health care providers. (4) It is imperative that Congress enacts a comprehensive, long-term solution to protect consumers and end surprise medical billing. (5) During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers across the country will increasingly require emergency or unanticipated health care services and at the same time may have limited access to in-network providers due to the increased demand on the health care system and it is critical that they are not deterred from seeking care due to the threat of a surprise medical bill. (6) The virus is now spreading faster in the United States than anywhere else in the world and experts indicate that day by day, more hospital beds will be full, more resources will be depleted, and the virus will claim more lives. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of the Congress that, during the COVID-19 pandemic— (1) heath care providers should refrain from balance billing consumers for out-of-network claims related to COVID-19 testing or treatment and insurance companies should do their utmost to secure access to in-network treatment for their plan participants, including providing adequate reimbursement rates for services