The
Truth About Abusive Billing

How Hospitals Drive Up
Costs for Everyone

Healthcare spending is going up — and it’s hitting you in the pocket.

You see it in higher health insurance premiums.

You feel it in bigger deductibles and increased out of pocket costs.

More people are struggling to afford care because costs keep rising.

CMS: US' total healthcare spending rose 7.2% to $5.3 Trillion in 2024 amid high utilization coverage.

A big reason healthcare is so expensive —
abusive billing practices by hospitals.

Hospitals make up a huge portion of healthcare spending growth — nearly 40% of the increase in national health spending between 2022 and 2024.

These billing problems don’t always come from a mistake — sometimes they do, but often they reflect systems that harm patients and drive up costs for everyone.

Here are real examples of the kinds of billing issues
driving up costs for you and your family:

Billing for care you didn’t receive

Hospitals sometimes charge for tests or services the patient never got — whether due to mistakes or sloppy billing systems. These errors show up on your bill and cost you money.

Duplicate charges

Charging twice for the same service — like two charges for a single lab test — makes your bill more expensive than it should be.

Upcoding

This means coding diagnoses as more severe than they really are, so hospitals get paid more — and your plan ends up paying more too.

Unclear or inflated facility fees

You visit your regular doctor's office, but get billed hospital facility fees — just because a hospital bought the practice.

These practices may be honest mistakes — but too often they reflect weak oversight and billing systems that pad hospital revenue at the expense of patients.

The Impact on Everyday People When hospitals bill this way:

Insurance premiums go up

Insurers pass these higher charges along to everyone.

Out-of-pocket costs increase

Patients end up paying more in deductibles, copays, and surprise bills.

Financial stress and medical debt rise

Families delay care or struggle to pay off bills.

RAND REPORT: Upcoding Linked To Up To Two-Thirds Of Growth In Highest-Intensity Hospital Discharges In 5 States, 2011-2019

Between 2011 and 2019, hospital discharges classified at the highest severity level increased by 41%.

When hospitals bill abusively — whether on purpose or because of sloppy systems — we all pay the price.

More health spending means fewer dollars for families, workers, and other priorities.

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