Machine Readable Files (MRFs)

The No Surprises Act (NSA), signed into law in December 2020, seeks to protect patients from surprise medical bills and prohibits balance billing of patients for certain out-of-network care.

In response to the No Surprises Act, BRMS is providing public access to machine readable files for the employer self-insured healthcare plans they administer. A machine-readable file is a digital representation of data or information in a file that can be imported or read by a computer system for further processing without human intervention. These files follow a specific layout and format defined by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that are not meant for a consumer-friendly search of rates, benefits, or cost sharing. The MRFs include in-network negotiated payment rates and historical out-of-network charges for covered items and services, including prescription drugs.

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