Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Kaiser Health News' latest edition of its "Bill of the Month" series features a patient who was charged a "facility fee," which drove up what she owed to more than 10 times higher than what she'd previously paid for the same care.
Why it matters: Facility fees — which are essentially room rental fees, as KHN puts it — are becoming increasingly controversial, and patients often receive the bill without warning.
- Hospitals aren't required to inform patients ahead of time about facility fees.
- Hospitals say they need the revenue to help cover the cost of providing 24/7 care.
What they're saying: "Facility fees are designed by hospitals in particular to grab more revenue from the weakest party in health care: namely, the individual patient," Alan Sager, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, told KHN.
- The practice is becoming more popular as more private provider practices are bought by hospitals.
- "It's the same physician office it was," said Trish Riley, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy. "Operating in exactly the same way, doing exactly the same services — but the hospital chooses to attach a facility fee to it."