Watch: Emergency Room Turns Simple Injury Into a Big Bill

Leigh Fava wound up in the emergency room after injuring her thumb at her New Orleans home. She said she received a tetanus shot and a badly wrapped bandage — and an unexpectedly high bill. Her experiences trying to dispute the hospital’s charges left her feeling ignored, she said.

In this installment of InvestigateTV and KHN’s “Costly Care” series, Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV’s national consumer investigative reporter, illuminates the practice of up-charging for common medications and supplies in the emergency room.

Jackman’s story features an interview with Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal, KHN’s editor-in-chief, who cautions that emergency rooms have wide leeway to charge high prices.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.