Were you charged a ‘facility fee’ on your medical bill?
Your facility fee experience could help us prevent providers from charging unjustified fees to medical bills.
Updated
Tell us about your facility fee bill.
If you’re like others, you may have noticed a new fee on your doctor’s bill. It might be a facility fee. As hospitals buy up physician practices, specialist groups, or imaging centers, they are charging extra hospital fees when you see these doctors now owned by the hospital. The care you receive is the same, but the price tag is much higher.
Hospitals claim “facility fees” support their life-saving services such as running an ICU, onsite specialists, or having more bedside nurses. But regular doctor offices and imaging centers don’t offer these services, so why are they charging us for these added costs?
Facility fees add unnecessary costs to our medical bills.
Facility fees range from $15 to thousands of dollars, and we’re seeing them on bills for lower-cost outpatient services.
Usually, people have no idea they will be charged a facility fee until after they get the medical bill. They pay their co-pay and weeks later get a bill from the hospital – even though they never stepped foot in a hospital.
Insurance plans generally don’t cover facility fees when care is provided outside of a hospital. That means patients are stuck owing these unfair charges.
Help us put an end to facility fees by sharing your experience with us.
You’re not alone. We’re working to find solutions and prevent these unjustified fees from hurting patients and raising the price of health care. And we’ve been collecting people’s experiences with facilty fee bills since 2023. We need your story, too.
Share your story about a facility fee you received.
These personal experiences help decision makers understand exactly how this issue impacts their communities. Thank you for joining others who’ve shared their facility fee situation.
Facility fees are driving up the prices of doctor visits.
Authors
Patricia Kelmar
Senior Director, Health Care Campaigns, U.S. PIRG Education Fund
Patricia directs the health care campaign work for U.S. PIRG and provides support to our state offices for state-based health initiatives. Her prior roles include senior policy advisor at NJ Health Care Quality Institute, associate state director at AARP New Jersey and consumer advocate at NJPIRG. She was appointed to the Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee in 2022 and works with patient advocates across the U.S. Patricia enjoys walking along the Potomac River and sharing her love of books with friends and family around the world.
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Facility fees are driving up the prices of doctor visits.
