USofCare Provides Testimony to Oregon Senate Health Care Committee in Support of Legislation to Protect Patients from Outpatient Hospital Facility Fees

Recently, United States of Care’s Senior State Advocacy Manager, Kelsey Wulfkuhle, delivered testimony before the Oregon Senate Health Care Committee in support of SB 539, which would build upon Oregon’s longstanding work to lower health care costs by protecting Oregonians from unexpected hospital facility fees.

Facility fees are charged by hospitals in addition to fees covering the provider’s services and are often not covered by insurance, leading to high out-of-pocket costs. Even worse, facility fees are not associated with any changes in the type or quality of care provided to a patient, making the physical location where a patient receives services the defining factor. 

SB 539 offers Oregon the opportunity to join the other eighteen states that have passed laws to protect people from these expensive and unexpected fees. We applaud Senator Patterson for introducing this legislation and look forward to continuing to support legislation that helps to lower the rising out-of-pocket costs that patients are forced to shoulder.