This week Arnold Ventures joined a diverse group of organizations that represent consumers, patients, businesses, and physicians in calling for Congress to address hospital consolidation – a primary driver of high hospital prices for the privately-insured.
High and rising hospital prices are a primary driver of increased health care costs for consumers, patients, employers, and taxpayers. The consolidation of health care markets gives large hospital monopolies the market power to drive out competition and increase prices. Research shows that hospitals in consolidated markets charge higher prices than those with more competition, that hospital prices increased following consolidation, and that consolidation does not improve quality. In fact, some studies have shown it can lead to lower quality and worse patient experiences.
In order to confront this challenge and help lower health care costs, the letter calls on Congress to pursue policies that improve competition and limit consolidation and its effect on pricing, such as:
- Advancing site neutral payment and billing transparency reforms
- Addressing anticompetitive contracting practices
- Increasing price transparency
- Enhancing antitrust oversight and enforcement
Enacting these policies would not only promote a competitive and more innovative health care system, but also are supported by voters from across the political spectrum.
Read more in the letter here.
