HCCI data on ER facility fees was cited in a NPR in a story about a $12,460 ER bill.
From the article:
“The Health Care Cost Institute, an independent, nonprofit health research firm, recently analyzed millions of insurance bills to get a better sense of the facility fees that ERs are charging. It found the charges nearly doubled from 2009 to 2016, outpacing overall health spending four times over. In Colorado, the average facility fee charged for a Level 4 visit grew from $1,064 to $2,336.
Insurance plans generally don’t pay the full charge but pay a negotiated rate for in-network hospitals. The Center for Improving Value in Health Care, which maintains a database of insurance payments in Colorado, found that insurance plans paid an average of $1,754 for a Level 4 facility fee in 2018.
Still, those prices pale in comparison with the fee charged to Fischer. “That seems like an outlier on the high end,” says John Hargraves, a senior researcher at the Health Care Cost Institute who led the ER study. “That’s more than triple what it was in 2016.”
A $12,460 Hangover Cure? This Groom’s ER Bill Was A Major Headache : Shots – Health News : NPR
The high ER charge for treating one Colorado groom’s hangover the day before his wedding illustrates how emergency room bills have become major headaches for many Americans.