Thread. A year ago I got an astounding health care bill: $629 for a Band Aid delivered in an emergency room. (1/11)pic.twitter.com/9zZTNyOqLl
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I’ve been obsessed with facility fees since. Hospitals keep them secret. How much are facility fees? Do they vary? How are they set? (4/11)
Today, I’m launching a big project to answer these questions. We are crowdsourcing a database of facility fees using YOUR bills. (5/11)
Facility fees are a small window into the biggest problem in American health care: our outlandish prices. (6/11)
Today, I wrote a story about a $25,000 bill for an MRI. That only happens in America. (7/11) https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/16/16357790/health-care-prices-problem …pic.twitter.com/cJ8iEoSyk9
We need help. Because these fees are secret, we need you to share your ER bills through our secure website: http://erbills.vox.com (8/11)
I’ll use this data for a year long project on health care billing. We’ll bring transparency to one corner of American health care. (9/11)
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much in advance! So thrilled to see where this story goes (10/11)
And if you want to learn more about that $629 Band Aid, check out the first episode of The Impact! (11/11)https://www.vox.com/the-impact/2017/10/16/16387298/band-aid-er-bill-truth-american-health-care …
2/2 if an ER has a large uninsured patient population the FF will be higher to make up the shortfall.
I’m listening to my NPR station fund drive and ER care is a lot like that - no one has to pay to get the product
But at the end of the day the ER lights have to stay on, staff has to be there 24/7/365
$7 is still a lot for a single bandaid, almost as if they’re marked up for profit 
Yep; nursing, cleaning, sterilization, disinfection staff provide nonBillable services so facility fees pay for that @sarahkliff @voxdotcom
I know it's not the main outrage here, but $7 for a band-aid is also ridiculous. A whole package costs $2 retail.
Who can forget the Times investigation of the cost of saline at hospitals. I am surprised no one has sued for fraud.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-secret-costs.html …
its not unreasonable. a facility fee discourages non emergency people from using it for convenience. Think korean convenience store at 1AM
This is misleading. When you go to the hospital ER you are using facilities designed for emergencies. You are paying for staff and lights.
And you are paying for patients who do not have health care (can't afford it) and can not pay their bills.
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