Congress can lower health care costs by holding hospital systems accountable

a 629 dollar bill Place a Band-Aid on a 1-year-old child.a Fee $722.50 With each push of the drug through the drip.a 17,850 dollar bill For just one drug test.

These are true stories of patients who were charged exorbitant fees for their services. There are many such examples across the country. The hospital industry is far from a fluke, institutionalizing anti-competitive practices and playing a leading role in the healthcare affordability crisis. Over the past decade, the cost of providing insurance for employees has increased. 47 percent increaseplays a role in hospital care. Biggest contributor to health care costs.

Patients and families bearing the brunt of these costs agree that it is time to act. According to a recent national survey, almost 80 percent of voters say hospitals charge unreasonable rates for treatment.

It was once unthinkable that Washington would challenge the powerful hospital lobby, but the issue has become the focus of the 118th Congress. A series of high-profile hearings have revealed how the corporate hospital system has significantly increased the prices of its services and circumvented transparency requirements. Patients rarely know what their costs will be until they receive a bill. In top hospitals, more than 5x price increaseit should come as no surprise that the industry is desperate to keep its pricing fraud covered up.

These unfair price hikes are hurting patients seeking treatment and are a real concern for employers who pay for health insurance for millions of workers across the country. . Providing quality health care benefits is becoming increasingly difficult, and getting workers and raising wages is even more difficult.
A major focus of this congressional oversight is the increasing practice of corporate hospitals to establish regional monopolies and use their market power to charge high prices to patients. With increased competition from hospital consolidation, hospitals are under no pressure to recoup costs within reach of their employees, retirees and their families. It is natural that patients demand a more competitive environment.Exclusive hospital prices are 12% higher than markets with 4 or more competitors.

One way corporate hospitals can use acquisitions to: Taking advantage of patients by charging exorbitant “facility fees” For care received in a doctor’s office – not because doctors’ offices are now in hospitals, but simply because the hospital system has acquired that practice. When a clinic is acquired by the hospital system, prices increase on average by: 14.1 percent. Requiring the same rate regardless of where services are provided, site-neutral reforms can reduce costs and insurance premiums by: Over $470 billion Over 10 years.

The era of unbridled anticompetitive behavior may soon be over. In hospital, both energy and commerce and Education and Workforce Commission We have been promoting bipartisan measures to crack down on fraudulent billing.member of parliament both room They rallied across the aisle to introduce measures to increase transparency and promote competition. This encourages progress, but more urgent action is needed in Washington to stop unwarranted cost increases. Hospitals will go to great lengths to protect their territories and the profits generated from them.

Through common sense reform, we can reduce costs for consumers and hold the corporate hospital system accountable for making it difficult to provide affordable insurance. That means curbing unfair markups, ensuring honest claims, encouraging competition and providing true transparency in pricing. This ensures that patients are treated fairly and rationally, whether for examinations, treatments, or simply the application of plasters.

Michael Thompson is President and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. Tom Lussier is the administrator of the public sector medical roundtable.