On average, hospitals upcharge patents by 487%
This report is an update to a previous report examining hospital markups for separately paid drugs. Our prior analysis examined hospital charges and reimbursement for 20 drugs and found that hospitals marked up charges for those drugs, on average, 487 percent of their acquisition cost. We also found that hospitals receive 252 percent of estimated […]
A 50k Trauma Fee….Just in Case
The care was ordinary. A hospital in Modesto, California, treated a 30-year-old man for shoulder and back pain after a car accident. He went home in less than three hours. The bill was extraordinary. Sutter Health Memorial Medical Center charged $44,914 including an $8,928 “trauma alert” fee, billed for summoning the hospital’s top surgical specialists […]
Hospital System Sued 2,500 Patients After Pandemic Hit
When the coronavirus began spreading through New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered state-run hospitals to stop suing patients over unpaid medical bills, and almost all of the major private hospitals in the state voluntarily followed suit by suspending their claims. But one chain of hospitals plowed ahead with thousands of lawsuits: Northwell Health, which […]
Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Report
While CMS’ move to increase the penalty for hospitals that don’t publish their prices will make some facilities more likely to comply with that requirement, it may not sway the country’s largest health systems, Caroline Znaniec, a managing director at advisory firm CohnReznick, told Becker’s Hospital Review. The CMS final price transparency rule, which took […]
PRESS RELEASE: Better Solutions Statement on House Framework to Combat Hospital-Driven Cost Increases and Increase Health System Transparency
Better Solutions Statement on House Framework to Combat Hospital-Driven Cost Increases and Increase Health System Transparency WASHINGTON, DC – (September 6, 2023) – Today, three committees in the House introduced a joint product to lower costs and increase transparency in the health care system. This bill includes policy to increase price transparency from hospitals, promote […]
Fighting Skyrocketing Hospital Prices, Leading Employer Groups Join Better Solutions for Healthcare to Launch National Campaign
Aimed at Stopping the Rise of Hospital-driven Health Costs Borne by Employers and Patients, Coalition Sets its Sights on Federal Policymakers WASHINGTON, DC – (April 18, 2023) – Better Solutions for Healthcare, a coalition of business and healthcare industry leaders, has added national employers and healthcare industry players as it launches its federally focused campaign. […]
Our Principles
Competition, Transparency, Accountability The majority of healthcare spending is driven by monopolistic hospital systems. To lower costs, we need effective market-based solutions that increase competition in local markets, drive efficiency in the delivery of healthcare, and inform patients about the cost and quality of care received. We support strengthening market competition, so hospitals compete on […]
As hospitals raise their prices, U.S. workers and businesses suffer
Despite a recent taxpayer-subsidized boon, the hospital industry spent the last several months lobbying for additional federal dollars amid warnings about the continued spread of Covid-19 and inflation’s impact on the nation’s health care system. Those efforts bore fruit: Medicare recently granted hospitals the largest price increase since 1998. Never mind that the supply chain challenges and […]
Analysis: Inconsistencies Within Hospital Price Transparency Data Make Cost Comparisons Difficult
Since 2021, federal law has required hospitals to publicly post information about their standard prices and negotiated discount rates for common health services to encourage consumers to compare prices and to promote competition. To date, however, the transparency data currently shared by hospitals to comply with the law are messy, inconsistent and confusing, making it […]
Only 25% of Hospitals Are Complying with the Price Transparency Rule
February 08, 2023 – Less than a quarter of hospitals are complying with the hospital price transparency rule over two years after the regulation went into effect, according to a report from PatientRightsAdvocate.org. The Fourth Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency Report reflects publicly available data from 2,000 hospitals in the US. Researchers assessed the hospitals’ websites from December 10, 2022, […]