Quick Answer: Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced a $1.99 million settlement with LifeBridge Health on March 5, 2026, over hospital facility fees that patients weren’t adequately warned about before paying. Patients who paid out-of-pocket facility fees at LifeBridge outpatient clinics before July 1, 2021 — where the same service was available at a non-hospital LifeBridge location without those fees — may be eligible for a refund check. Checks are expected within six months of the announcement, which means by approximately September 2026.
Expert Context: I’ve helped people navigate medical billing complaints since launching GetOutOfDebt.org in 2008, and hospital facility fees are one of the least-understood sources of surprise medical bills. Patients assume they’re paying for the doctor or the procedure. They often have no idea the hospital is adding a separate “facility fee” just for using a hospital-affiliated outpatient clinic — a fee that disappears if the same service is provided at a non-hospital location a few blocks away. This settlement is one state’s attempt to force accountability for that practice.
Maryland’s Consumer Protection Division has secured nearly $2 million for patients who were billed facility fees without adequate warning that lower-cost alternatives existed.
What LifeBridge Health Did Wrong
Maryland’s Consumer Protection Division alleged that LifeBridge Health failed to adequately inform patients that they would be charged an outpatient facility fee when receiving care at hospital-affiliated clinics. The problem: equivalent services were often available at nearby LifeBridge-affiliated locations that were NOT hospital-based — meaning the facility fee wouldn’t have applied at all.
Patients who chose the hospital-affiliated clinic without knowing this were effectively paying an extra charge they could have avoided had they been told about it first.
This practice became the subject of Maryland’s Facility Fee Right-to-Know Act, which took effect July 1, 2021, requiring hospitals to disclose when a location charges facility fees and whether the same service is available at a non-hospital affiliate. LifeBridge’s conduct before that date fell below what the AG’s Consumer Protection Division considered adequate disclosure.
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Who Is Eligible for a Refund
You may be eligible if:
- You paid an out-of-pocket facility fee at a LifeBridge Health outpatient clinic
- The service was provided before July 1, 2021
- The same service was available at a non-hospital LifeBridge affiliate location that did NOT charge a facility fee
- You paid some or all of the facility fee out of pocket (not fully covered by insurance)
LifeBridge Health operates multiple hospital systems and outpatient facilities across Maryland including Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Northwest Hospital, Carroll Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center, and Grace Medical Center. If you received outpatient care at any of these facilities before July 2021, check your Explanation of Benefits for facility fee line items.
How to Find Out If You’re Owed Money
The settlement is expected to result in direct outreach to eligible patients. However, if you believe you may have paid facility fees at LifeBridge before July 2021 and have not heard from the AG’s office or LifeBridge by September 2026:
- Contact the Maryland AG Consumer Protection Division directly
- Review your old Explanation of Benefits statements for “facility fee” or “hospital outpatient” line items
- Contact LifeBridge Health’s billing department and ask specifically about facility fee refunds under the 2026 AG settlement
The Broader Problem: Facility Fees Are Widespread
This isn’t just a Maryland problem. Hospitals across the country have been expanding into outpatient settings while maintaining hospital billing — meaning patients who think they’re going to a doctor’s office are actually receiving hospital-level billing. The Commonwealth Fund found that facility fees routinely add hundreds or thousands of dollars to outpatient bills without meaningful patient disclosure.
Several states beyond Maryland have enacted facility fee transparency laws. If you received care at a hospital-affiliated outpatient clinic and your bill seemed unexpectedly high, facility fees are a common culprit worth investigating.
If You Got a Surprise Medical Bill: My guide on fighting hospital bills covers how to dispute errors, request itemized bills, and negotiate. If you have a current medical debt in collections, the Find Your Path quiz can help identify your options.
Key Takeaways
- Maryland AG settled with LifeBridge Health for $1.99M over facility fees patients weren’t adequately warned about before July 2021
- Eligible patients are those who paid out-of-pocket facility fees at LifeBridge outpatient clinics before July 1, 2021, where the same service was available without the fee at a nearby non-hospital LifeBridge location
- Refund checks are expected within six months of the March 5, 2026 announcement — approximately September 2026
- If you haven’t heard from LifeBridge or the AG by September 2026, contact the Maryland AG Consumer Protection Division directly
- Facility fee transparency laws now exist in Maryland and other states — if you’re charged a facility fee, ask for it in writing and ask if equivalent care is available without it
The Bottom Line
Hospital billing is already complicated, but charging a separate facility fee for using a hospital-affiliated clinic — without telling patients the same service is available elsewhere without that fee — is exactly the kind of practice that erodes trust in the healthcare system. Maryland is one of the first states to bring a formal enforcement action over this. If you’re eligible for a refund from this settlement, getting that money back is worth the 10 minutes it takes to check. And if you’re currently dealing with confusing medical billing anywhere in the country, now is a good time to look at every line on that bill.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the LifeBridge Health Maryland AG settlement?
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced a $1.99 million settlement with LifeBridge Health on March 5, 2026, resolving allegations that LifeBridge didn’t adequately disclose outpatient facility fees to patients before July 1, 2021. Patients who paid those fees out of pocket when equivalent services were available without the fee at non-hospital LifeBridge locations may be eligible for refunds.
What is a hospital facility fee?
A facility fee is a charge hospitals add when care is provided at a hospital-affiliated outpatient location — separate from the physician’s fee. Patients often don’t know about facility fees until they receive a bill, and the same service may be available at a non-hospital clinic without the fee. Maryland now requires hospitals to disclose facility fees in advance under the Facility Fee Right-to-Know Act (effective July 1, 2021).
How will I receive my LifeBridge refund?
LifeBridge Health is expected to distribute refund checks within six months of the March 5, 2026 announcement — approximately September 2026. If you believe you’re eligible and haven’t been contacted by that date, reach out to the Maryland AG Consumer Protection Division at marylandattorneygeneral.gov.
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