State Attorney General George Jepsen is asking for hospitals’ cooperation in collecting information about fee transparency, his office announced.
Jepsen said he aims to draft legislation that will require up-front disclosure of so-called hospital facility fees, which he said are not always disclosed up front to patients.
Jepsen has asked the state’s hospitals to provide particulars about their acquisition of independent physician practices, free-standing ambulatory surgical centers and urgent care centers. He also seeks descriptions of how they disclose hospital affiliations and any facility fees charged to patients.
Jepsen is particularly interested in off-campus hospital-affiliated providers, some of which charge a separate and often expensive fee intended to cover hospital operating expenses, according to Jepsen.
The request for information by Dec. 6 follows his invitation last month to patients of Connecticut hospitals to submit complaints about facility fees on their medical bills.
