American Hospital Association November 8, 2019
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission yesterday discussed how health care provider consolidation affects prices, costs and Medicare payments, among other areas. In 2018, the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked MedPAC to report on a series of questions on the effects of hospital mergers and physician-hospital consolidation.
In addition to concerns raised about how MedPAC staff calculated market concentration, during yesterday’s discussion several commissioners urged MedPAC staff to examine how consolidation among hospitals correlates with consolidation among other stakeholders, including health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and group purchasing organizations, in order to assess impacts in the context of larger health care environment dynamics. The commissioners also challenged some staff conclusions that federal policy does not create...
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