Watch: ER Charged $1,012 for Almost No Care

January 27, 2022

</p> <p>“CBS Mornings” host Tony Dokoupil interviewed KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal about January’s Bill of the Month installment, a collaboration with NPR. The Bhatt family of St. Peters, Missouri, was charged $1,012 for an emergency room visit for son Martand. The toddler had burned his hand on a stove days before, and, after it started blistering, his pediatrician recommended a trip to the emergency room at the nearest children’s hospital.</p> <p>A nurse practitioner examined the child and recommended a surgeon also see the wound. But the surgeon didn’t show after more than an hour, and the family left without the dressing on the wound even being changed. </p> <p>Why was the bill $1,012? Facility fees. These fees are “a construct of American medicine,” Rosenthal said, “basically a room usage fee.”</p> <p><em>If you have a confusing or outrageous medical bill, write to Bill of the Month and tell us about it. </em></p> <p>
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