Out-of-network healthcare can be costly and is often something patients try to avoid. But when an emergency occurs, a visit to an in-network hospital can still result in an unpleasant surprise — a highly expensive medical bill because the patient was treated by an out-of-network physician.
Surprise billing and related costs are increasing among inpatient admissions and emergency department visits to in-network hospitals. From 2010 through 2016, 39% of more than 13 million trips to the emergency department at an in-network hospital by privately insured patients resulted in an out-of-network bill, a new study published by medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine finds.
