Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study: Some Hospitals Mark Up Prices More Than 10 Times Their Actual Costs
The Washington Post: 50 Hospitals Charge Uninsured More Than 10 Times Cost Of Care, Study Finds
Fifty hospitals in the United States are charging uninsured consumers more than 10 times the actual cost of patient care, according to research published Monday. All but one of the these facilities is owned by for-profit entities, and by far the largest number of hospitals — 20 — are in Florida. (Sun, 6/8)
The Associated Press: Study: Some For-Profit Hospitals Charging 10x Medicare Rates
U.S. hospitals charged on average more than three times the Medicare-allowable costs, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Health Affairs. The study uses 2012 Medicare data to examine hospitals that charge on average more than 10 times their costs. The study comes amid a national push to increase transparency in hopes of curbing rising health costs. (Kennedy, 6/8)
Kaiser Health News: Study: Highest-Charging U.S. Hospitals Are For-Profits, Concentrated In Florida
That doesn’t mean all or even most patients end up paying those charges. Private insurers are able to negotiate the sticker price down significantly. Patients paying out of pocket can often negotiate discounts or get charity care if they are low-income. (Gold, 6/8)
Reuters: Many U.S. Hospitals Mark Up Prices 1,000 Percent
Even the astronomical price markups that consumers regularly pay for, say, wine in restaurants pale beside those in some U.S. hospitals: The price for procedures is often 10 times the cost, according to a study published on Monday in the journal Health Affairs. Of the 50 hospitals with the highest markups, 49 are for-profit, including 25 owned by Community Health Systems. (Begley, 6/8)
CBS News: At These Hospitals, Prepare To Pay Markups Of 900 Percent -- Or More
Americans pay higher prices for health care for a number of reasons. One is that some hospitals charge rates far higher than normal in the industry "because they can." That's according to Gerard Anderson, a professor in health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who co-authored a study that appeared Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs. (Sherman, 6/8)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Are Inflated Hospital Bills Affecting Your Cost Of Care?
In the great debate over why health care costs so much, some have pointed to inflated hospital charges, while others say those sticker prices don't really matter. What is clear, however, is that Southeastern Pennsylvania has a significant cluster of high-price-tag hospitals. (Sapatkin, 6/9)
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on a separate study regarding hospitals -
The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Discharge Patients To Maximize Medicare Payments, Study Finds
The new study, which focuses on patients who were on ventilators, echoes findings in an analysis by The Wall Street Journal that broadly examined long-term-care hospital claims paid by Medicare and found the same pattern across all types of patients. In the new study, the researchers said their findings “confirm that…payment policy created a strong financial incentive for long-term-care hospitals to time patient discharges to maximize Medicare reimbursement.” (Wilde Mathews and Weaver, 6/8)
And in other hospital news -
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Jumping Into Insurance Business Risk Rough Landing
Health systems that own an insurance plan—an increasingly popular gambit—have good reasons to be in that business, such as diversification and gaining market share. Indeed, some of those plans have done well for many years. But new entrants have cause to be wary. Operating performance “will be more volatile” as health systems buy or launch health insurance plans, analysts at Standard & Poor's conclude in a report. The rating agency said extraordinarily poor performance by health plans could drag down health system credit ratings, although that hasn't happened yet. (Evans, 6/8)
