Average Cost of Hospital ER Visit Surges 176 Percent in a Decade, Report Says

A study by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) found hospital emergency room (ER) visits are more likely to cost more on average than a decade ago, reports USA Today . The average visit cost $1,389 in 2017 — a 176 percent jump over 10 years, not including additional charges such as blood tests, IVs, or drugs. Each hospital ER visit is gauged on a scale of 1 to 5 to assess medical complexity and the amount a consumer will be billed. The difference in the code assigned to a visit could cost a consumer far more for simply entering the hospital. A decade ago, 17 percent of hospital visits were charged the most expensive code, which climbed to 27 percent of visits in 2017. The average cost for the most expensive code grew from $754 in 2008 to $1,895 in 2017. Hospitals also hiked billings for the second most expensive code, but they billed the three least expensive codes less frequently compared to 10 years ago. Revisions to billing practices have coincided with hospitals' transition to electronic health records systems, which might prompt staff to better record care and support the use of more expensive codes, concluded HCCI researcher John Hargraves.