Hi all,
I’m wondering if anyone else is facing the same situation. My oncologist office is apparently “associated with” a hospital so they charge not only for the doctor visit but for a “hospital fee.” I’ve heard this called a “facility fee” - well, it is almost $700 PER OFFICE VISIT and it is not covered by insurance.
I am so disheartened right now and feel alone. I keep getting messages that I have to pay this outrageous fee for no services provided to me, all I had was a 10 minute appt with the doctor’s PA and a refill on my hormone blockers. I try to get them to negate the amount and they won’t. The fact that I am struggling even accepting this diagnosis but then they see it as a great opportunity to make a fat profit for the hospital absolutely DISGUSTS me. I know hospitals are a business, but c’mon.
Anyone else been thru this? I don’t see the point of getting out of bed in the morning if all we are is walking dollar signs to these moronic people, and I am having vivid fantasies of what I would like to do to every one of them.
Sounds like this is the US? Sorry can’t comment on your situation. Makes me thankful we have our NHS in the UK 
Hope you manage to get it sorted, I can’t imagine going through breast cancer and having to worry about finances too. Good luck and wish you well x
I am in the US and have never heard of this before. I think the first thing I would do is call my insurance and see if this is something they are aware of and have suggestions on how it should be handled because there is no way this is possible for a cancer patient considering how many appointments we have.
I would follow @Kay0987 advice as even though it isn’t covered your company may be able to advise you how to deal with this . When it’s sorted ( because this sounds almost criminal ) then if you can I would change your Oncologist - get your insurance company to advise you of reputable practitioners . Good luck - I’m feeling angry on your behalf xx
Thanks! I have already changed oncologists and this is for a visit back in April that they are billing me for, and I confirmed up front with the new onc that they don’t have this ridiculous “fee” - seems sad that I have to do that! Right when we are at our most vulnerable and don’t know what our treatment will be, they are seeing us as big fat dollar signs with outrageous fees.
I’m in the US too and actually, NBC just ran a news story on this becoming more common, which is criminal like Joanne said. The hospitals are not making enough money so many doctor offices being “affiliated with” hospitals enter into a joint agreement to bill more. My insurance company said that the procedure code for any kind of admin fee is not allowed. It can go toward my deductible but my deductible is 9500 per year so that doesn’t help much. I am fighting based on the fact that I never knew an out of pocket “fee” would be so high!
Thanks, yes I am in the USA. And you said it perfectly - having cancer and having to fight against all these outrageous bills and finances too. The fact that they see us as big fat dollar signs and not as human beings is VERY disheartening.
I guess it’s good they can go towards a deductible since in the first year after diagnosis we’ll hit it but what about the remaining years after that? We’re not going to get active treatment forever but we’ll still have quite a few appointments and nobody can pay what is essentially a $700.00 or more co-pay. This should be illegal. I’m not one to bitch about the US’s healthcare approach since all healthcare approaches have their pros and cons but this is so not okay. And why aren’t hospitals making money considering what they charge? And regardless they shouldn’t be allowed to try and make profit off of a sick person’s back. Anyway I’m so sorry this happened to you dogmamala.