Surprise medical bills or surprise balance billing could be a thing of the past under a new law that became effective the first of the year.

Patients, covered by health insurance, that were treated with a surgery or procedure would sometimes get a bill later, charging them for services performed by an out-of-network provider.often those bills were expensive.

There are some loopholes to the law and it requires compliance by providers.

In Pennsylvania, the state insurance department has implemented the law.

Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman is on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to explain the new law and patients’ options.