Healthcare Spending

House Committee Urges GAO to Examine Hospital Price Transparency Compliance

by Victoria Bailey

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has urged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate compliance with the hospital price transparency rule following continuous reports of...

Increase in Cross-Market Hospital Systems May Hurt Market Competition

by Victoria Bailey

Over half of hospitals that underwent a merger or acquisition between 2010 and 2019 were located in a different commuting zone than the acquirer, signifying a rise in cross-market hospital systems and...

KFF: Varying Hospital Charity Care Policies Influence Spending

by Victoria Bailey

Half of all hospitals reported spending 1.4 percent or less of their operating expenses on charity care in 2020, but spending varied due to different state-level charity care policies, according to...

How UT Health East Texas Addresses Healthcare’s Waste Problem

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The US healthcare system has a waste problem. Recent research published in JAMA confirmed that about a quarter of healthcare spending in the country can be attributed to waste, with wasteful spending totaling up to $935 billion. Waste is...

More Hospitals Complying With Price Transparency Rule Requirements

by Victoria Bailey

Almost two-thirds of hospitals are complying with hospital price transparency rule requirements and have published machine-readable files with negotiated rates or cash rates, according to Turquoise...

Rapid Recovery Unlikely as Hospitals Face Worst Financial Year Yet

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Hospitals will need to take drastic cost-cutting measures to stabilize balance sheets after one of the worst financial years in decades, according to economists from Johns Hopkins. Those measures may...

Some State Surprise Billing Resolution Processes Favor Providers

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The No Surprises Act gives states the opportunity to enforce surprise billing provisions, but most are leveraging the federal independent dispute resolution process to determine out-of-network rates,...

Most Healthcare Consumers Do Not Research Pricing Options in Advance

by Victoria Bailey

Most healthcare consumers do not typically research different pricing options before receiving healthcare services, indicating the need for greater price transparency, according to a survey from...

Analysis: COVID-19 Booster Campaign Could Save $44B in Healthcare Spending

by Jacqueline LaPointe

A COVID-19 boost vaccination campaign could seriously impact potential healthcare spending this fall and winter, according to a new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund. The private think tank recently...

ED-ICU Model Maintains ED Costs, Improves Value of Healthcare Delivery

by Victoria Bailey

Total cost per emergency department (ED) patient encounter remained unchanged at an academic medical center after it implemented an emergency department-based intensive care unit (ED-ICU), indicating...

4 Key Areas of Value-Based Care Transformation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Healthcare has a spending problem. For all the investments made in healthcare—$4.1 trillion to be exact—outcomes are not where they should be. In fact, the US has the lowest life expectancy compared to other high-income...

Inflation, Labor Costs Will Increase Healthcare Spending by $370B

by Victoria Bailey

Inflation and rising labor costs will increase US national healthcare spending by $370 billion in the next five years, according to a McKinsey report. Consumer prices are rising faster than healthcare...

Hospital Expenses Have Increased 23% in Less Than a Decade

by Sarai Rodriguez

Hospital expenses have increased 23 percent since 2016, a spike researchers attributed to continuous COVID-19 challenges, according to a recent analysis from QuoteWizard.  By...

Physician-Led Hospitals Advance Care Quality, Market Competition

by Victoria Bailey

Physician-led hospitals improve care quality and lower patient costs by driving market competition, making them an effective option to combat healthcare consolidation, according to a study conducted by...

Physician Practice Costs Grew 20% After Private Equity Acquisition

by Victoria Bailey

Private equity acquisition of physician practices in dermatology, gastroenterology, and ophthalmology was associated with increased healthcare spending and utilization, according to a study published...

FTC Urges States to Repeal COPA Laws, Prevent Illegal Hospital Mergers

by Victoria Bailey

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has urged state lawmakers to repeal Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) laws, asserting that the agreements allow otherwise illegal hospital mergers to bypass...

Expanding Substance Use Disorder Coverage Would Cost Medicare $362M

by Victoria Bailey

Adding Medicare coverage for substance use disorder (SUD) services for residential programs, intensive outpatient programs, and licensed and certified counselors would cost Medicare $362 million...

When Cutting Healthcare Spending, MA Pulls Ahead of Medicare ACOs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Average spending on Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans was much lower compared to the same metric of spending for beneficiaries attributed to a Medicare ACO, according to...

AHA: High Hospital Costs Stem from Increased Patient Acuity

by Victoria Bailey

Rising patient acuity due to delayed healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to significant growth in hospital costs, according to a report from the American Hospital Association...

With More Chronic Disease Comes More Medical Debt

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Patients with chronic diseases face higher amounts of medical debt and are more likely to face adverse financial outcomes compared to patients with no chronic disease or just one diagnosis, according...