Trends In Hospital Prices Paid By Private Health Plans Varied Substantially Across The US

Abstract

Commercial health plans pay higher prices than public payers for hospital care, which accounts for more than 5 percent of US gross domestic product. Crafting effective policy responses requires monitoring trends and identifying sources of variation. Relying on data from the Healthcare Provider Cost Reporting Information System, we describe how commercial hospital payment rates changed relative to Medicare rates during 2012–19 and how trends differed by hospital referral region (HRR). We found that average commercial-to-Medicare...

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