By: Les Masterson
Dive Brief:
- Hospital emergency room (ER) facility fees increased 89% between 2009 and 2015, which is twice as fast as outpatient care and four times as fast as overall healthcare spending, reported Vox and Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) in a new report.
- Vox and HCCI analyzed 70 million insurance bills for ER visits. The analysis focused on facility fees and not the hospital charges.
- The added spending is leading to higher premiums and patient costs. “It is having a dramatic effect on what people spend in a hospital setting,” said Niall Brennan, executive director of the Health Care Cost Institute. “And as we know, that has a trickle-down effect on premiums and benefits.”