Doctors, Hospitals Nationwide Adding Fees To Medical Bills

November 15, 2012 | Reporting Al Sunshine  MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Hospitals and doctors offices across the country are tacking extra fees onto your bill.  Doug Rischbieter booked his appointment six weeks early with a doctor he’d seen for elbow problems five years earlier.  But when Rischbieter arrived, he learned the hospital had changed his doctor.  His elbow felt much better when he left, but he said the bill he received stung because it included a $164 new patient fee his insurance didn’t cover, he said.  “They said they automatically charge it to anyone who hasn’t been to the facility in three years,” he said.   “That does not seem fair,” said Amy Bach, a consumer advocate at United Policyholders.  Bach said hospitals are getting creative with fees, not unlike the airline industry.  Read more