Re: “Facility fees inflate hospital prices for common services,’” May 14 news story.
I read with interest your article about the so-called inflated fees charged by hospitals for tests. The article also correctly mentions how 50 percent of doctors now work for hospitals. In actuality, the article has the story completely wrong.
For the last several years, both Medicare and insurance companies have been slashing reimbursement for in-office testing to the point where these physicians’ practices have been going bankrupt. In order to survive, the physicians have sold their practices to hospitals. The price that is being paid to the hospitals more truly reflects the cost of the service provided. The government and insurance companies, by slashing reimbursement to doctors, have forced the doctors to align themselves with hospitals so they can continue providing quality health care for their patients.
What the article should have said is that insurance companies and Medicare are now being forced to pay the true price for the services provided.
Murry Drescher, M.D., Longmont
This letter was published in the May 21 edition.
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