Pricey hospitals don’t change after negative publicity
Attempts to publicly shame hospitals which have substantially increased prices don't appear to work.
The Washington Post reports that was the conclusion of a University of Miami study which looked at twenty high-priced Florida hospitals which had marked up prices by as much as 1,000 percent just a year before. The researchers found not only did the public scrutiny have zero effect on those existing hikes, it also didn’t stop the same hospitals from continuing to raise prices.
“We were thinking we would see a drop or lowering of some charges,” said study author Karoline Mortensen. “There’s nothing stopping them. They’re not being held accountable to anyone.”
For example, Community Health Systems’ Bayfront Health Dade City was found to have marked up prices by 930 percent in the earlier study, and researchers prices at the hospital increased by an additional 95 percent after the outcry about the earlier hike died down.
For more on how health systems appear unfazed by the outrage over high prices, click on the link below:
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.