Hospital prices, not physicians, drive cost growth, Health Affairs says

UPDATE: Feb. 5, 2019: The American Hospital Association pushed back on the Health Affairs findings in a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying the authors “use limited data to draw broad conclusions.” AHA President Tom Nickels noted that the study uses data from employer-sponsored plans and doesn’t include Medicare, Medicaid or Blue Cross Blue Shield claims. Also, hospitals have expenses doctors don’t, such as administrative expenses, regulatory compliance, drugs and medical devices, he said. “We recommend in the future that such studies take into account all these factors,” Nickels said.

Dive Brief:

• Hospital prices for inpatient care grew 42% from 2007 to 2014, substantially faster than the 18% growth in physician prices over the same time period, according to a...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor