PIRG joins open letter to Congress calling for “Same service, same price” policy

PIRG is calling on Congress to pass simple but significant reforms to help lower the cost of health care. Today, in an open letter published in the Wall Street Journal and Politico, we joined 28 other advocacy organizations to explain why.

“A significant driver of these high health care costs stems from the fact that patients, consumers, employers, and taxpayers are being charged what amounts to billions more as hospitals buy up physician practices and charge higher prices for the same services. Patients shouldn’t be charged more for the same care simply because of where they receive it. We are calling on Congress to act now to advance site-neutral payment and billing transparency reforms to protect against unfair billing practices that lead to excessive health care prices.”

Billing based on location for services that gain no benefit from taking place in a special facility makes no sense. It also creates a perverse incentive for physician’s offices to keep merging and raising prices. As stated in our letter, “When a physician’s office is acquired by a hospital system, the prices increase more than 14% – simply because the logo on the door changed.” As consolidation increases, prices increase, and health care becomes even more of a financial decision rather than a medical one.

You can read download and read the full letter to the left.