Oregon Lawmakers Target Hidden Hospital “Facility Fees”

Oregon state lawmakers have figured out that one way to tackle soaring health care costs, is to crack down on the surprise charges that show up on your bill as “facility” fees.

Here’s how they work: When you visit a lab or doctor’s office owned by a hospital system, you may be charged an extra facility fee that can range from $100 to $1,000. Even worse, you may not even know about the extra charge until your bill arrives!

“Facility fees increase the cost of care, and to a large extent, insurers are absorbing the higher prices that they’re having to pay and then passing along those costs to consumers,”  Charlie Fisher, state director at Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, told The Oregonian.

If Senate Bill 539 becomes law, hospitals would be required to inform patients they are on the hook for facility fees. It would prohibit hospitals from charging facility fees for most outpatient and routine office visits in hospital-owned clinics. Hospital systems would also be required to report their facility fees to state regulators, which would make the information publicly available.

Voices for Affordable Health has mobilized our Oregon advocates to email their legislators. We’ve asked them to let their representatives in Salem know that they support Senate Bill 539. We’ve even made it easy, with this online tool. If you haven’t sent your email yet, please don’t wait.