Hospital-owned medical practices are charging patients billions in fees for services they never use, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Major hospital systems are charging patients what is known as a hospital ‘facility fee’ even if they never step foot in the actual the hospital.
Facility fees are extra charges that hospitals add on to your bill to cover overhead costs at the hospital. They are in addition to the fees you pay to see the doctor.
“[T]he fees are now pervasive, and in some places they are becoming nearly impossible to avoid,” the data analyzed by the Wall Street Journal found.
This is in large part because hospitals are buying up independent clinics and doctors at a rapid pace. Once they acquire a practice, they can add facility fees on top of what they charge to be seen at the clinic.
It has become so widespread that “[m]any hospital systems now get at least half their revenue from patients who aren’t admitted.”
The issue is national one, but it is also playing out right here in North Carolina.
Per the Wall Street Journal report:
“A shift in physician employment by hospitals is now rapidly playing out for cancer doctors in North Carolina, a preliminary analysis for the Journal by one of the study’s researchers found.
“Roughly 80% of oncologists in the Charlotte, N.C., area work for hospitals, up from half about 10 years earlier.
“Among the North Carolina hospital systems that have been buying up oncologists is Novant Health, which employed 75 cancer specialists at the end of the last decade, up from seven in 2010. One of the cancer clinics Novant bought: Lake Norman Oncology in suburban Charlotte, N.C.
“After the acquisition, in December 2020, Lake Norman billed Rebecca Smith, a breast cancer survivor, roughly $400 for monitoring, up from the $76 her previous visits had cost.
“Smith refused to pay. She said Novant reminded her she had agreed in writing to cover the bills and sent debt collectors after the single mother.”
A $400 hospital fee for a single mom with breast cancer who did not use the actual hospital. Up from $76 dollars before.
The hospital sent debt collectors after her when she refused to pay the markup.
Other states have begun taking on facility fees and reigning in what hospitals can charge, specifically at outpatient facilities.
North Carolina should consider joining the list of states cracking down, especially considering the disturbing details uncovered in the Wall Street Journal’s investigation.
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