San Francisco General pauses surprise billing; DPH proposes 90‑day review and caps on out‑of‑pocket costs

Supervisor Aaron Peskin convened a hearing on Thursday to examine unit costs and surprise balance bills at Zuckerberg San Francisco General after investigative reporting and numerous patient complaints. Peskin cited cases in which privately insured patients were left with bills in the tens of thousands of dollars and said the city must “take the patient out of the middle.”

Greg Wagner, chief financial officer for the Department of Public Health, told the Government Audit & Oversight Committee the department has placed a temporary halt on its practice of balance billing and frozen related statements and collections while it develops more detailed policy proposals on a roughly 90‑day schedule. "We have frozen sending out any new bills that would fall under this balance billing category," Wagner said, adding that the department will also freeze additional statements on previously billed cases and…