“Another way hospital systems exploit their growing monopoly power to maximize their profits is a shady practice known as “dishonest billing.” This occurs when big hospital systems buy up small, independent doctor’s offices and take over their billing operations, tacking on additional hospital facility fees, despite the patient never stepping foot inside a hospital and receiving the same service from the same physician.”
The daunting threat of monopolies is nothing new to small business owners. When a single company dominates a market, competitive forces are eliminated, quality decreases, prices go up, and all too often, the smaller player is forced to forfeit. So, as monopoly control becomes more prominent in the healthcare industry, business owners, more than most, can recognize the familiar link between hospitals’ growing market dominance and our nation’s skyrocketing healthcare prices.
Hospitals’ Dishonest Billing Practices Add More Pain to CA Small Businesses – California Globe
