ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hired Coforma to implement the No Surprises Act, the largest medical bill rights legislation since the Affordable Care Act, to protect patients from surprise medical bills. Medical debt is the biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in the US. US healthcare system patients have historically faced unexpected bills after receiving care or treatment from out-of-network providers in situations beyond their control. The No Surprises Act established patient protections such as independent disputes, formal complaint channels, and limits to surprise billing. To satisfy the Act’s requirements, CMS needed to quickly update its systems to receive, store, process, adjudicate, and present information related to cases, complaints, costs, and more.

In 2021, I led a team of 12 researchers and designers who conducted research activities with patients, providers, and insurance companies to provide recommendations on how to execute the law.

In 2022-2023, I was part of a team that conducted discovery and evaluative research to inform the design for cms.gov/medical-bill-rights, a website for patients to learn about their rights, and an interactive tool to help them navigate medical bills.