Patients Say Hospital Facility Fees Raised Outpatient Costs Without Notice

Montefiore Health System emailed Red Hook resident Ben Blatt an updated bill that lowered his balance to $125 after Mid‑Hudson News asked about a startling outpatient charge, Mid‑Hudson News reported. Blatt says the contracted rate for a routine physical‑therapy visit went from $196 to $1,800 in less than a year, and he says he received no advance notice of the change.

Blatt, 47, a father of one who works full time as an art fabricator, has been managing complications related to Lyme disease with physical therapy at Access Physical Therapy and Wellness in Kingston since 2023. “My therapist has been a miracle worker and essential to my recovery,” Blatt told Mid‑Hudson News. “But, then, one day last year, I received this bill.”

Mid‑Hudson News reported Blatt “has spent the last four months” trying to understand why a routine session left him nearly a thousand dollars in debt, making “weeks of unreturned phone calls, emails and fruitless attempts” to connect with Montefiore, his unnamed insurance company, and state regulators. On February 6, Blatt filed a complaint with the New York Attorney General’s Office to document the dispute.

The reporting highlights a legal question under state law: “New York Public Health Law § 2830 requires hospitals and health systems to provide patients with written notice of such an increase at least seven days in advance of a scheduled visit.” Blatt says he was never informed in advance that the billing structure had changed or that hospital outpatient facility fees would apply to insured visits.

When Mid‑Hudson News called Montefiore, the hospital system responded through an outside public affairs representative who sent a link to Montefiore’s website and a statement, Mid‑Hudson News reported. Within two days of that inquiry, Montefiore emailed Blatt an updated bill; the balance was reduced to $125, described in reporting as “the self‑pay, out‑of‑pocket rate,” but Montefiore provided no explanation for the adjustment.

Mid‑Hudson News also noted unresolved discrepancies that affect consumer protections in the Mid‑Hudson region: how the contracted rate rose from $196 to $1,800, how that produced the “nearly a thousand dollars in debt” Blatt reported, and whether the notice required by § 2830 was ever sent. With Blatt’s complaint filed with the New York Attorney General’s Office and Montefiore’s unexplained billing change on record, state regulators now hold key documents that will determine whether patients at Kingston clinics and other outpatient sites were properly notified of hospital‑level facility fees.