Even as prices increase significantly more slowly at hospitals than in the overall economy, two healthcare economists are calling for hospital price regulation that promotes competition centered on care delivery, reports the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
“Prices are driving healthcare spending right now,” Robert Berenson, MD, a fellow at the Urban Institute and a co-author of a recent paper endorsing price regulation, said during a webinar. “It has been the leading cause of increased spending that results in private insurance markets with increased premiums, decreased take-home pay for workers, etc.”
For the moment, prices are less of an issue in healthcare than in other economic sectors. Newly released data show a comparatively restrained rise in healthcare prices, with the industry continuing to trail economywide inflation by a wide margin, Altarum reported in its February price brief. Read more.
