Colorado hospitals collected an estimated $13.4 billion in facility fees over a recent six-year period, doubling the average cost of care for patients with certain types of insurance, according to a new state report released this week. When patients receive care at a facility owned by a hospital system, whether on the hospital’s campus or elsewhere, their bills typically have at least two parts: professional fees, for the doctors and other providers performing the service, and facility fees, for overhead costs. While they’ve existed since the early 2000s, the fees have become controversial in recent years as health systems have bought up outpatient providers, meaning that patients may have to pay new fees for the same care they’d received before. The 200-page report, compiled by a committee and staff from the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, came up with its cost estimate by using data from 2017 to 2022 on Medicare and commercial insurance payments, which the authors obtained through Colorado’s All-Payer Claims Database. The report estimated total spending on facility fees rose about 10% annually during that time, due to some combination of population growth, hospitals charging higher amounts and more locations charging the fees, among other factors. The authors didn’t quantify how much of that $13.4 billion patients paid out-of-pocket, though they noted the proliferation of high-deductible insurance plans has left people receiving care responsible for an increasing share of costs. On average, facility fees were higher than fees paid to the doctor or other provider who provided the service, nearly doubling costs for care covered by commercial insurance or traditional Medicare, according to the report.
Comment on Colorado hospitals collected $13 billion in facility fees over 6 years, new state report finds
Meg Wingerter, Denver Post
Thu, 10/03/2024 - 5:00am
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