Fierce Health Payers January 7, 2020
Hospital payment rates from private insurers have grown much faster compared to rates paid by Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new study that comes at a time when Washington is considering how to rein in healthcare costs.
The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, looks at payments for inpatient hospital stays, emergency department visits and outpatient care from 1996 to 2016. The authors found that private charges rose four to five times the rate Medicare pays before eventually leveling off or slightly declining.
“Although payment for most hospital patients is set through negotiation with private insurers or set administratively by public payers, tracking the rapid increases in charges remains highly relevant for the national debate over surprise billing...