Corporations not best for patients

I’ve watched with growing concern as large, corporate hospital systems take over independent, private physician practices and then charge more for care delivered at these recently acquired facilities — even though the services they offer have not changed.

When a hospital system acquires a physician’s office, the price of care can increase by an average of 14.1% — and sometimes as much as 58%. As a result, patients are being charged inflated prices for care at these hospital outpatient departments. More than half of physicians are now employed by these corporate systems, which means patients are paying soaring costs directly into the coffers of corporations.

Doctors know these new fees prevent people from seeking care. Patients should be charged the same price when they receive the same medical service, regardless of where they receive it. Thankfully, Congress can help address this problem with the passage of the Site-based Invoicing and Transparency Enhancement Act, a critical piece of proposed legislation in the Senate that would lower the cost of health care by implementing site-neutral payment reforms and preventing hospitals from engaging in unfair hospital billing practices.

I urge Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen and their colleagues to support the SITE Act and hold these corporate hospital systems accountable.

It’s the best option to ensure that patients can receive the care they need at a price they can afford. Dr. Harpreet Tsui, Las Vegas The writer is a board certified internist.