As a retired nurse, I understand how important it is to medical professionals that their patients get the best possible care they can afford to get healthy and stay healthy. Yet patients across the Keystone State are struggling to afford skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs due to corporate hospital takeovers.

It’s a nationwide problem. Corporations are acquiring independent practices and then charging patients more for the same care. The care itself hasn’t changed, only the owner of the facility. It’s this unfair and unsustainable billing that drives up costs for patients and makes it more challenging to receive necessary care. 

And it’s getting worse. As of January 2024, nearly 78 percent of physician practices were owned by these corporations.

I have seen the strain this puts on patients who are forced to make tough choices between quality of care and affordability, simply because of office ownership. Patients should be charged the same price for the care they receive, regardless of the location in which they receive it.

I urge Sen. Bob Casey and his colleagues in the Senate to pass site-neutral legislation put forth in the Site-based Invoicing and Transparency Enhancement Act (SITE) to bring down health care costs for patients here in Pennsylvania and across the country. 

Patients deserve high-quality, affordable care no matter where they seek it out.

Veronica Comfort
Fogelsville, PA