COLUMBUS — An Ohio law requiring that patients be informed of costs before receiving nonemergency medical treatment has been delayed from taking effect by a pending lawsuit.

Williams County Common Pleas Judge J.T. Stelzer recently issued a 30-day restraining order, the Dayton Daily News reported, blocking the law from taking effect Sunday. Judge Stelzer scheduled a hearing for Jan. 20.

Before receiving nonemergency services, patients would have to receive written estimates from health-care providers on how much their insurer would be charged for each procedure, test, or service. They would also be required to know how much their insurers would cover.

Associations representing hospitals, doctors, and other health-care providers are among those joining the suit. Health-care industry opponents of the law said it could delay patient care.

If the insurance company “takes days and not hours to provide all of the required information, the doctor is faced with the hideous choice of delaying patient care and risking malpractice or providing that care and risk being sued,” the lawsuit states.

First Published January 3, 2017, 5:00 a.m.