09.05.2023 / Press Release

Same Service, Same Price: Families USA’s new campaign takes on hospital junk fees, encourages site neutral payments

Today, Families USA announced Same Service, Same Price, a new person-centered campaign calling on Congress to pass common sense, bipartisan legislation that will lower health care costs and ensure patients pay the same price for the same health care service no matter where they receive care.

The campaign includes digital ads that call out big hospital corporations for charging patients additional “junk fees” just for visiting a hospital-owned primary care clinic or even for a telehealth visit.

“It is unconscionable that big hospital corporations charge patients three, four, five times as much or more for a medical procedure solely based on where they get it done. The playbook is clear: big hospitals are scooping up small, family-owned doctor’s offices and re-labeling them as ‘hospital-owned clinics’ that don’t provide improved care or additional access but do jack up prices for the health care that America’s families need,” said Frederick Isasi, Families USA’s executive director. “Same service, same price means hospitals will no longer be allowed to charge different prices for the exact same services regardless of whether the care is delivered in a doctor’s office or a hospital owned clinic. Hospital corporation C’ suites shouldn’t be able to buy a doctor’s practice, slap on an ‘outpatient hospital’ sign, and jack up prices. That’s unforgivable. The research is clear: for the higher prices, care gets worse or at best, doesn’t improve. Our nation’s families deserve much better from the health care sector.”

The campaign will focus on helping the public and policymakers better understand how big hospital corporations drive up health care spending in this country by charging more just because a procedure is done in a hospital-owned building. It will also encourage people to call on Congress to enact comprehensive, bipartisan policy reforms including codifying hospital and health plan price transparency regulations into law and enacting comprehensive site neutral payment reform to rein in industry gaming and ensure families have access to high quality, affordable care.

It is part of Families USA’s efforts to repair the cracks in America’s broken health care system, which is rife with high costs, low quality and misaligned business incentives. Last year, it launched the Center for Affordable Whole Person Care and People First Care; and in 2019, Consumer First: The Alliance to Make Health Care Affordable for Everyone.

 

Families USA, a leading national voice for health care consumers, is dedicated to the achievement of high quality, affordable health care and improved health for all.