Does your doctor charge a facility fee?

Have you ever heard of a "facility fee"? Probably not, but you may soon. Many Americans are quickly learning about this unpleasant medical billing practice.
Here is the quick and dirty on facility fees: Hospitals charge an additional fee for services performed in the hospital. This is called a facility fee. So when a patient of mine has an MRI of her shoulder done at the hospital she will receive a bill for the MRI and an additional facility fee will be tacked on because the MRI was done at a hospital. You can think of it is a surtax. If this same MRI is performed in a non-hospital owned center a facility fee is not charged, and therefore the cost is lower.
This is becoming a big issue in the United States because hospitals are buying doctors' practices at a  rapid rate. If a physician practice is hospital owned some hospitals are claiming that the services provided are occurring in a hospital and are now charging facility fees. To give you an example, an older gentlemen has been going to the same primary care physician for many years. His office visits are generally billed between 100 to 300 dollars depending on how complex the visit. This past year his primary care doctor was bought out by a large hospital corporation. Now his bills are between 300 to 500 dollars, because an additional 200 dollars is being charged by the hospital as a facility fee. This fee is charged for no other reason than the practice is owned by a hospital...... seems a little unfair to the patient!

The bottom line is that we are all consumers of our healthcare. Costs are rising, and the amount we each have to pay is rising as well. Most insurances have high deductibles and co-pays, etc. that the consumer is having to pay. We should all be informed shoppers, when you choose a doctor you should be aware that many large hospital owned practices charge facility fees. You should ask your doctor if they charge a facility fee, and you should check your bill. There have even been class action lawsuits where patients were being charged these fees without being informed!