It is my unwavering belief that Alabamians deserve a higher standard of public health. I felt this long before launching Inside Medicine, a statewide publication dedicated to giving patients, physicians, and communities the information they need to make better decisions about their health care. Our health and well-being have an impact on every aspect of our lives – our ability to work, take care of our families, reach our goals, and live purposefully. Unfortunately, Alabama is trailing the country in critical health benchmarks. Many of our communities grapple with poverty and income inequality. These realities point to the urgent need for stronger health care reforms here in our state and across the nation.
Racial disparities compound these problems. Black communities frequently grapple with financial or geographical barriers that block their access to health care. They disproportionately confront various social and economic challenges, including poverty and food insecurity, which profoundly impact peoples’ well-being and dissuade individuals from seeking treatment due to the financial burden. All things considered, Black communities often experience worse health outcomes due to a number of historical, financial and geographical factors.
One solvable issue driving up health care costs is hospital consolidation. Corporate hospitals are on a rapid acquisition spree of independent physician practices – with nearly 70 percent of independent practices now owned by a corporate hospital. Following these acquisitions, physician offices are rebranded as “Hospital Out-Patient Departments” (HOPD), allowing these facilities to increase costs on hospital medical bills with “facility fees.”
A recent report from Blue Health Intelligence lays out this alarming cost discrepancy. It highlights the difference in the pricing of medical services between doctor’s offices and HOPDs. Essential and preventative services like mammograms and chest X-rays can cost up to 60 percent more in HOPDs. These hospital billing practices are not just morally dubious, they have far-reaching consequences for patients – especially patients in our state who are already facing severe challenges within the health care system.
Simply put, health care is not as accessible or affordable as it should be in Alabama or across our nation. In fact, it’s a key driver of debt in America. Medical debt affects 100 million Americans. And hospitals are only exacerbating this crisis through dishonest billing practices that keep health care costs too high. Again, these financial indiscretions disproportionately fall on Black communities, with reports indicating Black adults are twice as likely as white adults to be denied care due to outstanding debts. As a result, Black Americans are less likely to seek necessary care because of undue financial strain.
The Facilitating Accountability in Reimbursements Act (FAIR), currently under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives, is an important initial step toward a more equitable health care system. This legislation protects patients from high costs and lays the foundation for more fair billing practices that benefit everyone. Fair hospital billing legislation can also offer cost savings for the federal government. Reforms outlined in the FAIR Act and its companion bill in the Senate, the Site-based Invoicing and Transparency Enhancement Act (SITE), would potentially reduce spending in the Medicare program by hundreds of billions.
I am committed to using Inside Medicine as a platform to fight for lower health care costs, and I want to encourage U.S. Representative Terri Sewell to be our voice in Congress on this critical issue. I extend my gratitude to Representative Sewell for her advocacy on our behalf and I urge her to continue prioritizing the health and financial well-being of Alabamians.
Reducing the cost of health care in our country is a massive task, but by implementing commonsense policies little by little, we can change Alabama’s health care landscape for the better.
Kelly Reese serves as the Founder of Inside Medicine, created to bring together patients, physicians, and communities into a central platform where local health care information is shared with your health in mind.
