Comment: Sale of your doctor's practice could cost you more

As a family physician, I’ve seen firsthand how rising health care costs hurt my patients.

It’s not uncommon for them to delay or skip essential care because they can’t afford it. Even patients with Medicare or private insurance are feeling the pinch. A major, yet largely invisible, driver of these costs is the increasing trend of big hospital systems buying up independent physician practices and charging patients more for the same services.

Here’s how it works: After acquiring an independent practice, hospitals reclassify it as a “hospital outpatient department.” With that simple change, they can charge significantly higher prices for the same services, even when nothing about the care has changed. For instance, Medicare is charged 51 percent more for initial preventive exams in hospital outpatient department settings than freestanding physician offices. Drug administration services cost Medicare and patients who rely on it 129 to 211 percent more in hospital-owned settings than independent offices. These charges add up quickly for patients, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet.

This isn’t about better care; it’s about profit. Hospitals are exploiting a payment loophole to increase revenue, burdening patients with higher bills. Medicare often pays more for the same health care services performed in hospital outpatient departments than in independent practices. This system incentivizes consolidation, pushing care away from cost-effective settings like physician offices into more expensive hospital-owned facilities.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-sale-of-your-doctors-practice-could-cost-you-more/