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Surprise Emergency Room Bills

Surprise Emergency Room Bills

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by: ProblemAgain Active Indicator LED Icon 10 OP 
~ 6 years ago   Jul 24, '17 6:11pm  
and people blame the ACA rather than single out the real problems...A small, rural hospital in Washington State, Newport Hospital and Health Services, outsourced its emergency room, as many hospitals have. Soon it started hearing from patients confused by getting large bills from the E.R. doctors. A broken ankle sent Debra Brown of Crescent City, Calif., to the Sutter Coast Hospital’s emergency room. She was surprised to get an additional bill from a doctor who she said never identified himself and only briefly touched her ankle. SEE SAMPLE Dr. Gregory Duncan, chief of surgery at Sutter Coast Hospital in Crescent City, Calif., said patients started complaining about bills they received after EmCare took over the emergency room in 2015.CreditEzra Marcos for The New York Times“I discovered a pattern of inflated bills and out-of-network bills,” he said. “What they are doing is egregious billing.”Dr. Duncan, who also sits on the county health care district board, has joined with other elected officials in asking Sutter Coast to terminate its contract with EmCare.In an emailed response, Mitch Hanna, the chief executive of Sutter Coast, said the hospital chose EmCare because of its ability to fully staff its emergency department. He added that he understood EmCare was working to bring two large commercial insurers into its network by the end of the year.EmCare said in early February that it planned to reach agreements with insurers for most of its doctors. The company also said it was working with insurers, hospitals, lawmakers and others to make sure patients get appropriate care “without creating undue financial burden.” The American College of Emergency Physicians favors an approach in which out-of-network emergency room doctors are paid a standard rate.California recently passed a law setting a maximum amount that out-of-network doctors can charge patients. Other states, including Florida and New York, have also passed laws to limit surprise bills.384COMMENTSBut many state efforts to reduce surprise billing have been met by fierce lobbying from doctors who oppose efforts to weaken their bargaining position, said Chuck Bell, the programs director at the consumer advocacy group Consumers Union.“The whole thing is really a mess,” he said. “Progress is really slow.” 4951
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