Many insurance companies refuse to pay a hospital fee for a typical doctor office visit, so patients must cover it. UCLA is aware that thousands of patient's are having to pay these hospital facilities fees out of pocket, yet they continue to charge them as is. By changing the coding to align with the fact that patients are visiting a doctor's office, NOT visiting the hospital, UCLA would save patients thousands of dollars. I personally could get back over $3,000 from past visits and save an immeasurable amount of money from future visits, as my chronic illnesses cause me to have to see doctors monthly.
Why is this important?
UCLA Medical Center is charging patients a $150 "hospital facility fee" for every regular visit to their doctor's office. I have several health issues and see 3 specialists on a regular basis at UCLA and have thousands of dollars in fees I cannot afford to pay. With more than 200 doctors only seeing a mere 10 patients a week, UCLA is making $300,000 per week at a bare minimum from this fee alone.
