On July 1, 2021, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, along with the Office of Personnel Management (collectively, the “Departments”), issued an interim final rule (IFR) to explain provisions of the No Surprises Act (the Act) that passed as part of sweeping COVID-19 relief legislation signed in December 2020. The Act and IFR aim to protect consumers from excessive out-of-pocket costs resulting from surprise and balance medical billing.