Bridge Michigan · October 12, 2026

Legislation Would Prohibit Facility Fees for Off-Site, Telemedicine and Some Outpatient Care in Michigan

• Facility fees are charges hospitals add to bills, traditionally for costs such as laundry, computer networks and security; hospitals are not required to publicly disclose how much they collect from them, according to the report.
• Legislation in Lansing would prohibit the fees when care is provided at sites outside hospitals, for telemedicine appointments and for some in-hospital outpatient services, according to the report.
• Facility fees added an average of $100 to primary care doctor bills in 2022, according to one estimate cited in the report; no reliable statewide estimate exists, according to the report.
• State Rep. Curt VanderWall told lawmakers in August that an itemized bill for a routine blood test charged him a facility fee for each of three vials drawn, nearly $75 extra in total, according to the report.
• Hospitals say they need the fee revenue to stay afloat, and have increasingly added the charges to outpatient services such as labs and physicians' offices, according to the report.

Figures and the bill's scope are as reported by Bridge Michigan; the hospitals' position is documented in the source and included above. A companion Bridge report on systems declining to disclose fee amounts is carried separately on this page. Original headline: "Hidden fees cost Michigan patients millions. Lawmakers push reforms".