Medical bill Lawmakers and patient advocacy groups have been pushing for legal changes to reduce surprise billing. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Out-of-network billing increased sharply between 2010 and 2016, according to a new study released by JAMA Internal Medicine.

In an analysis of 13.5 million emergency department admissions, researchers at Stanford found that patients were billed for services outside of their insurance network 42.8 percent of the time in 2016, up from only 32.3 percent six years earlier.

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