My insurance from my employer changed this year. I went from standard insurance to and HSA, or health savings account. These plans offer the insured to save pre-tax money toward medical expenses. There is no co-pay when you see a medical provider, but rather the costs are run through the insurance company's fee schedule and reduced according to what they would normally pay. Then this is the amount the insured pays.
So, I went to a dermatologist (whom I had seen before when I had traditional insurance with a $20.00 co-pay) to get some of my fair Irish skin treated and the doctor happened to be associated with a hospital, MetroHealth, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her office was in a building across the street from the hospital. I was her office for 15 minutes tops. I received a bill from her for $120.07. No problem with that. Then I received a bill from the hospital for facility services, apparently because they own the building and it was in a treatment room in their building (looked like an ordinary patient exam room seen in any other doctor's office), for $324.00!
The reason I went to this dermatologist again was that she was listed as an in-network provider by my insurance company, Anthem, and she seemed like a good physician. There was no indication from Anthem, on their website listing providers, that there would be an additional fee for seeing a physician who is in a clinic near a hospital. There was no indication at the doctor's office that there would be additional charges. Since I had traditional insurance coverage the first time I saw this doctor, there was no way I could have known if my insurance company was paying a higher fee. This is a hidden fee, and people with HSA's should be aware of it.
If you have an HSA account, I caution you to check with any doctor associated with a hospital, whether there will be additional facility charges prior to making an appointment.
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