NJ medical center president defends billing practices

The president of Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus acknowledged that the hospital charges far more than its competitors to provide auto accident victims with outpatient care, but claimed auto insurers pay only a fraction of that. During a hearing on the growing number of for-profit hospitals in New Jersey, the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee pressed Meadowlands president and CEO Tom Gregorio to explain why the hospital charges 1,000 percent to 3,000 percent more than competing hospitals for steroid back injections, knee arthroscopies and other procedures. The hospital's billing practices and their impact on rising auto insurance premiums were the focus of a report in The Star-Ledger Monday. Gregorio said the hospital — bought by a for-profit company in December — gets only about 7 percent of what they bill to treat accident victims in their outpatient surgery and pain management center. "The charges don't reflect what you are paid," he said.