For five years, Caren Blanzy received the same treatment at the same medical office in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The regular injections gave her relief from involuntary muscle contractions caused by a neurological disorder, she said. Her insurance picked up the tab.
Then, the health system that owns her doctor’s office changed how it billed for her treatment — no longer coding it as an office visit, but instead as outpatient hospital services.
That change meant Blanzy owed more than $1,100 for one treatment. She said she stopped receiving injections because she could no longer afford them.
In this installment of InvestigateTV and KFF Health News’ “Costly Care” series, Caresse Jackman, a national consumer investigative reporter at InvestigateTV, digs into ways that health systems can charge hospital prices for doctor’s office care. This report explores how that care may look no different to the patient — other than the cost.
Jackman’s story features an interview with Elisabeth Rosenthal, KFF Health News’ senior contributing editor. “We see this over and over again, the rebranding of doctor’s offices, of outpatient clinics as hospitals for the purpose of billing,” Rosenthal said.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
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By Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTVKaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
