Here are four things to know.
1. Though many ERs are open 24 hours a day, patients sometimes find “after-hours surcharges,” generally between $30 and $200, added to their medical bill for visiting overnight, according to the column.
2. The practice of “after-hours surcharges” is not commonplace, but the use of the billing practice may be increasing, according to columnist Michelle Andrews. “We’ve definitely been seeing these surcharges a lot more this year than in the past,” Candice Butcher, vice president of Medical Billing Advocates of America in Roanoke, Va., which provides medical billing resolution services, told Ms. Andrews.
3. According to the column, patients typically don’t have to pay the additional charge, if insurers refute the fee and rule the charge ineligible for payment, Ms. Andrews writes.
4. The “after-hours surcharges” cover the costs of operating and staffing a facility outside normal working hours, according to Richard Gundling, a senior vice president at the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Read the full column here.
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