The market forces quietly adding thousands to patient bills

September 1, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / KFF Health News

After a failed round of IVF this year, Anne Hug's fertility doctor said she had a single polyp in her uterus that should be removed to improve the chance of pregnancy. Hug, a professor of radiology, learned that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the procedure can be done in a doctor's office with local numbing.

Her doctor referred her to a physician at the same hospital, which is part of a large Ohio health system. That doctor's plan was to do the procedure in a hospital operating room, with anesthesia administered by an anesthesiologist.

Hug balked at the $18,000 estimate.

So she found an obstetrician who said he would do it in the doctor's office. And she took the required two-week course of a hormone in preparation.

But the day before the polyp removal, the doctor's office called to say, sorry, but he had to do it in a freestanding surgery center owned by the same system. The health system had bought the OB-GYN practice in 2025, so it called the shots. The next day, Hug recalled, "I'm in a venue I didn't need or use…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/