Good Faith Estimates/No Surprises

If you don’t have health insurance or you plan to pay for health care bills yourself, health care providers/facilities are required to provide you with an estimate of expected charges when you schedule an appointment or if you ask for an estimate. This is called a “good faith estimate.”

What's included in a good faith estimate?

The good faith estimate shows the list of expected charges for items or services from your provider or facility. Because the good faith estimate is based on information known at the time your provider or facility creates the estimate, it won’t include any unknown or unexpected costs that may be added during your treatment. Generally, the good faith estimate must include expected charges for:

The primary item or service
Any other items or services you’re reasonably expected to get as part of the primary item or service for that period of care.
The estimate might not include every item or service you get from another provider or facility, even if some items or services may seem connected to the same service.

Your right to a good faith estimate

After you schedule a health care item or service.
If you schedule an item or service at least 3 business days before the date you’ll get the item or service.
If you schedule the item or service OR ask for cost information about it at least 10 business days before the date you get the item or service
Providers and facilities must also explain the good faith estimate to you over the phone or in person if you ask, then follow up with a written (paper or electronic) estimate, per your preferred form of communication.

Keep the estimate in a safe place so you can compare it to any bills you get later. After you get a bill for the items or services, if the billed amount is $400 or more above the good faith estimate, you may be eligible to dispute the bill.

For more information please refer to: https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises