The hospital may or may not be in the patient’s insurance network; but within the hospital he or she is treated by an independent contractor who is not part of the patient’s insurance network. Then that doctor sends the patient a separate bill for whatever he or she thinks the patient should pay.

Under the legislation, a patient still could still face higher medical costs if he or she went to an out-of-network hospital for a non-emergency.

The patient would be deemed to have “chosen” a non-network doctor if he or she gave verbal and written consent before receiving the medical services and was told an estimate of the potential charges. The medical office wouldn’t have to give the patient any time to consider and could get his or her consent just before the service was provided.

The legislation now heads to the House, where a similar bill has been making its way through the legislative process.