NEW: You might be charged double for a routine medical visit.
Corporations and hospitals are buying up private practices across the country, then tacking “facility fees” onto standard appointments.
While Americans are stuck paying hundreds more for a single doctor’s visit, corporate executives are raking in billions.
Large hospital systems are profiting off Medicare rules that pay them more for the same service than independent practices.
That means a senior in my district can pay MORE for an X-ray at a hospital than at a local doctor’s office -- and the hospital makes MORE too.
Today I asked hospital system CEOs a simple question: should we equalize payments to lower costs and expand access? They said no.
Americans deserve affordable care, not a system that rewards higher prices.
The US is removing the meningitis vaccine from the routine schedule
Why?
Because there are not so many cases of meningitis in the US
Why?
Because of vaccines