Patients, angered by surprise surcharges that hospitals tack on bills for doctor visits, are increasingly challenging these fees — sometimes even refusing to pay.
Hospitals say the charges cover their overhead, but the fees are sometimes added to the bill even when patients are treated in offices miles away from the medical centers.
Comments
Paying for multi-million dollar salaries of hospital administrators and the poor that use the emergency room as free primary care.
you are correct, and the illegal aliens getting free health care
This practice is out and out deception and gouging by the hospitals Were is our government regulation concerning this blatent fraud ? This is something the Attorney General or the Inspector General should be looking at. This is obviously one of the reasons our Health care is so costly.
Perhaps it's time to repeal ObamaCare. Then hospitals wouldn't have to scrape for every last dime. The Globe is already admitting that the "Affordable health care Act" is not Affordable when it asked for a WAIVER for MA small businesses.
Perhaps if you would go back and note in the story this went on previously but is only being noticed now that people are looking at their bills due to the high deductables. The ONLY thing Obamacare did in this case was make it noticable. It's a bad way of "spreading the cost" but then this would only be a problem for many if it was about "spreading the wealth".
Perhaps it's time for Medicare for All. That would solve the problem much better, and save us all a lot of money (Medicare is the most efficient and least costly way of delivering healthcare).
The medical industrial complex is consuming the nation.
We could really bend the curve if we could stop giving free care to illegals, and sex changes to convicted murders...
Really? Some people actually dislike this post? Why ever should my tax dollars go to illegals and convicts? What is with you people?
Because it is a tiny fraction of the amount of money we spend on health care. The question is why do people like you two always focus on blaming "the other" even if when it is clearly not a signficant part of the problem?
Read, Stephen Brill article on medical costs, entitled, The Bitter Pill. Recently published in Time magazine. Medicare is the only safe health insurance available to Americans. Only the rich are protected from economic ruin by these outrageous health costs. Find out who the Charge master is.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
I have only gotten through about half of the article, and I heard him on Charlie Rose. The upshot is; a big part of why healthcare cost so much in this country is exhorbitant profit margins made by hospitals and drug companies, aided by the complete lack or logic.
Buyer beware. Reading the fine print and asking the right questions is not a consumer practice in health care but should be as this article points out. I am verycurious to see how AG's office handles these complaints.
How do you think they pay for all the freebies. Once again we pay for all those that don't pay.
These hospital charges are outrageous and make no sense and may be dishonest. we need to understand if these overhead costs may have been already recovered through medicare or medicaid or private insurance or are not applicable for billing to patients at all and are just gouging patients just because they can.
The bottom line is the hospitals have to find some way to pay for all the "FREE" services they are forced to provide to ILLEGAL Aliens and others, by our supposed 'Representatives' starting with state reps (like Eldridge) through Deval, McGovern and Obama. So much foraffordable care - its still quite affordable to those who don't pay - those that do pay have to carry those that don't. The same politicans want to increase the load my adding more Illegals and giving the in-state tuition.
Maybe we should all ask up front of our providers: How much is this going to cost me out of pocket? If they can't provide an answer, say: "I can't agree to pay for your services until I have a good estimate of the costs." ... Of course this may not be practical in an emergency situation, but it's a start.
I had an experience where I investigated a rediculosly high bill at MGH and was told that I Was charged $500.00 for a facility charge. When I started to see a new doctor at MGH for a different issue, I made sure to ask what the doctor charged for a routine visit. His admin (whowaswonderful by the way) was unable to find out how much the appointment would cost. I ended up going to a local doctor instead.
Health clubs are required to post their fees. Would it be reasonable for medical offices and hospitals to post their "facility fees" and other fees? I think so.
What is also interesting is that many of these hospitals are "non-profit". Non-profit's don't pay taxes, have rules about how much lobbying they can do and are to "give back to the community". We know they break the lobbying rule and I'm sure others. Is anyone watching them? You can download the rules from the state website. Martha where are you??
It is troubling that the hospital chains don't even seem to understand that people do not wish to pay for services or facilities they are not provided. In the original article back in January, it said the hospital charged for an operating room instead of what it was, basically an office visit. If that is OK, why isn't it OK for the grocery store to charge for prime rib at the checkout when you really picked up hamburger? Or, why not charge you for four pounds instead of the one pound in your basket? I don't see the difference. It's wrong.
Part of the problem is that medical care is not like other "consumer goods." Most people don't just pick a doctor based on cost, but based upon who they think will provide the best care, which can be very personal. If someone has been going to a particular doctor for 10 years and then changes insurers and is suddenly faced with an expensive "facility fee" it may not be easy to find a new primary care doctor at all, much less one who is a "good fit." Similarly, if someone has a rare or life-threatening medical condition should that person have to choose his/her doctor based upon whether or not the doctor's office charges a facility fee with each visit, or based upon whether the doctor seems like the best doctor for that condition? Finally, I am trying to imagine going to the doctor for a "sick visit," feeling anxious and ill, and having a conversation at check-in in which the receptionist informs me of all of the costs and extra fees. Would I, at that point, say "forget it, I'll find another doctor" and leave? Would I go to the Emergency Room instead? What would my options be?
we are paying for the large admin overhead, and free health care in emergency rooms to the poor and illegal aliens. no fault of their own of course! why did nt the health care reform act truly lower cost and force insurance companies to lower thier outrageious fees and profits??
“Hospitals have charged overhead fees for more than a decade, arguing that they help pay for crucial services such as 24-hour emergency rooms and trauma units. A Tufts spokeswoman said facility fees like that charged Frosh also support research, teaching, and the cost of complying with licensing requirements that private physicians’ offices are not subject to. She said Tufts is still one of the lowest-cost academic medical centers in the state.”
COMMENT ON ABOVE: I try to understand why there is a charge for the use of a facility. I mean, does the use of the facility cost the hospital anything? The answer seems to be no since the fees pay for the above. Why should the patient have to pay for the above reasons? Why is the patient paying a fee for costs the patient did not incur?
"Seltz said another question is why insurers agree to pay facility fees as part of their contracts with providers in the first place." Very good question! The insurance companies are supposedly the watchdogs in this, but I think the answer must be that the insurance company benefits financially also. The hospital benefits. The insurance company benfits. Consumers are thrown under the bus. This has nothing to do with Obamacare, illegal aliens, or healhcare for the poor. Its about a lack of oversight of the people who set the rules and who also happen to represent the industries that benefit from the rules.
Hospital parking fees should be eliminated.
Hospital parking fees should be eliminated.
Hospital parking fees should be eliminated.
Hospital parking fees should be eliminated.
Hospital parking fees should be eliminated.
That's a good idea, But the only problem for downtown hospitals is that if the parking is free, you will get lots of freeloaders who aren't patients. There would have to be some proof that you were a patient, else pay full price.
Health plans need to pick up the ball here as I describe on the Health Business Blog http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/2013/03/facility-fees-for-office-visits-what-is-the-role-of-health-plans/
They've know about these fees for a while and haven't done much about them --for various reasons. With consumers and the Globe starting to jump up and down I expect the plans to take some action.
It should be illegal to charge "facility fees" unless the billing policy is posted clearly in the doctors' office BEFORE treatment. I was charged my copay plus a mysterious $150 facility fee at UMass Medical for a cortisone shot. I fought it and they refuced it to $120 and told me tough luck.
Health care is the only service that you are forced to accept the cost before they tell you what it is. Patients are at the mercy of the facility's billing dept.