Full Citation

Title: Why It’s So Hard to End Surprise Medical Bills

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2020

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Abstract: In an otherwise insightful article on how the medical system profits from surprise medical bills, medical doctor and journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal fails to mention the detrimental role played by private equity firms.1 Most patients don’t know that hospitals and physician’s practices negotiate separate contracts with insurers, and that it’s possible for a hospital to be in-network for an insured patient, but for a doctor that cares for them to be out-of-network. Emergency room doctors, anesthesiologists, radiologists — doctors that patients do not get to choose — are most likely to be out-of-network. Hospitals contract with doctors’ practices or with large physician staffing firms for these doctors. In these situations, patients do not get to choose their doctor and cannot select a doctor that is in-network. The doctors will see a steady stream of patients and will not lose business because their patients have been hit with surprise medical bills that may be hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than what their health insurance companies pay for the same care. A Stanford University study found that by 2016, 42.8 percent of trips to the ER — more than 4-in-10 — led to patients getting surprise medical bills.

Url: https://www.cepr.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-02-Suprise-Medical-Bills-Appelbaum-and-Batt.pdf

Url: https://cepr.net/report/why-its-so-hard-to-end-surprise-medical-bills/

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Authors: Appelbaum, Eileen; Batt, Rosemary

Publisher: Center for Economic and Policy Research

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS, IPUMS Time Use - ATUS

Topics: Health, Population Health and Health Systems

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