$18 For A Baby Aspirin? Hospitals Hike Costs For Everyday Drugs For Some Patients

This story was produced in collaboration with USA Today.

Sudden chest pains landed Diane Zachor in a Duluth, Minn., hospital overnight, but weeks later she had another shock – a $442 bill for the same everyday drugs she also takes at home, including more than a half dozen common medicines to control diabetes, heart problems and high cholesterol...

Even though her health plan covers medical and drug expenses, her policy did not pay the hospital drug bill because St. Luke's never formally admitted her. Instead, it billed the visit as observation care, which is considered an outpatient service.

That observation label excludes thousands of patients every year from full Medicare coverage; many have spent more than a day in the hospital and had regular hospital rooms and service and, like Zachor, never realized they were not admitted.  These observation patients might wind up paying a larger share of their hospital bill than inpatients, since they usually have a co-payment for doctors' fees and each hospital service...