SAME SERVICE, SAME PRICE
Patients should be charged the same price when they receive the same medical service, no matter where they receive it.
Unfortunately, today, big hospital systems are buying up small physician practices and then charging patients more to receive the same care there. By changing the logos on the door of the physician practices, big hospital systems are making billions more dollars, at the expense of patients.
Site-neutral payments will ensure that patients pay the same price for the same service, and will save patients billions of dollars.
As hospitals continue to consolidate, this problem will only get worse, as patient care is shifted from lower-cost options in physician offices to hospital “outpatient departments.” And as these billions in health care costs accumulate for patients, insurance premiums increase for everyone.
Doctors know that when people aren’t able to afford the care they need, they develop worse health outcomes and suffer needlessly.
Thankfully, Congress has an opportunity to pass common sense, bipartisan solutions to protect patients from being charged more for the same care just because of where they receive it. Ensuring that patients pay the same price for the same service will save patients billions of dollars.
On average, when a physician’s office is acquired by a hospital system, the prices increase by:
14.1%
(Journal of Health Economics 2018)
In 2023, Medicare pays:
194% more
for an echocardiogram in a hospital outpatient department than a freestanding physician office.
(MedPAC June 2023 Report)
Copyright © 2025, The Committee to Protect Health Care