Patients heading to hospital emergency departments covered by their health insurance company are increasingly getting a rude and costly awakening, the Tampa Bay Times reports. ER physicians who work as contractors may not be in network, and patients are stuck with the bill.
Major ER contractor EmCare doesn’t have a contract with insurance companies such as United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna and Humana, the Times reports. Insurers say the company is asking high rates, sometimes 600 percent of the Medicare rate, according to the Times.
The physician group says it needs to charge prices that pay for its services, the Times reports.