How a conversation turned into a law, saving Texans millions on medical bills
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Thousands of bills have been filed for this legislative session. So how do lawmakers decide what issues to focus on first? It many cases, it starts with one person.
Jerry Stamps works at a church in North Richland Hills. His employees kept getting hit with surprise medical bills. One Sunday, Stamps passed then-Rep. Kelly Hancock in the hallway at church and mentioned the issue to him. That quick chat led to a years-long fight.
"We had six [employees] that year that had balance billing or surprise billing problems," said Stamps. "And each one was kind of heartbreaking because it cost them money out-of-pocket, but there was also huge, emotional wear-and-tear as people had to fight these things."
"Insurance companies and medical providers were leveraging the patients in their own negotiations," said Hancock. "And we just wanted to take the patient out of it."
That was 2006. Hancock had just been elected to the House of Representatives. "I was told 'everybody's worked on that, you'll never get it passed.'"
When he filed the first bill to help prevent surprise billing, Stamps traveled to Austin to testify. He was the only one to speak in support of the bill; more than dozen medical associations lined up against the legislation. "That was very intimidating to me, to speak in front of them," said Stamps. "My mouth was dry and I was nervous!"
"We had so much opposition to address balance billing, because so many people were making money off of patients," said Hancock. The first bill to pass let patients mediate large surprise bills. Hancock says it wasn't perfect, but it was a start.
"It's trying to find that compromised where everyone knows it will work," he said. "Not everyone's completely happy, but not completely mad, and they all have to agree that yes, this will probably address the system."
Over the years, Hancock has expanded on that first law with several more, which have helped Texans save millions of dollars on medical bills. And it all started with a hallway chat. "The reality is, the most important bills are the ones brought to me by constituents," said Hancock.
Stamps says, it's a lesson for all of us to get involved. "Write your letters, make a phone call," he said. "No matter was the level of government, just get involved!"
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