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Wednesday, June 10th, 2015

50 US Hospitals That Mark Up Prices the Most

Author:     Christopher Wanjek
Source:     Live Science
Publication Date:     June 08, 2015 07:11pm ET
Link: 50 US Hospitals That Mark Up Prices the Most
Stephan:   Here is the latest on the Illness Profit System. It is depressingly familiar, one of the many trends SR covers that just never seem to change. The problem is so obvious, the solution is so obvious, but implementing a correction would mean that profit would be reduced for some. We just don't seem to have the moral fiber as a society to take on real issues with real solutions. And in almost every case it is the pool who are exploited.

hospital-corridor-150608Would you go to a car mechanic who charges $200 for a $20 oil change? Surely not.

Yet a combination of a lack of regulation, competition and clarity in billing practices enables many hospitals to routinely charge fees to patients that are more than 1,000 percent of the amount that is reimbursable by Medicare, a new study has found.

The study, published today (June 8) in the journal Health Affairs, lists the 50 U.S. hospitals with the most extreme price markups. The researchers claim that these markups are largely motivated by profit, not service quality, and that this price-gouging trickles down to nearly all consumers, whether they have health insurance or not, contributing soundly to the high level of U.S. health spending.

Among these 50 hospitals: 49 are for-profit hospitals; the majority are operated by two health systems (Community Health Systems Inc. and Hospital Corporation of America); and 20 are located in Florida. Topping the list is North Okaloosa Read the Full Article

1 Comment

  1. REv. Dean and Barbara Rose on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 7:56 am

    I told our local hospital which is a UPMC (University of Pittsburg Medical Center) hospital that I would never pay their bill because it was way over priced and confirmed that the hospital charged 1000% what the same procedure done by the same doctor in his office and the doctor backed me up and he even complained about it to hospital administrators, not that that did any good. I told them I’d give them $10/month and that’s all they’ll ever get. I couldn’t find a lawyer willing to try to go after them because of lack of REGULATIONS that would give us a way to sue. We need more regulations of “non-profit” hospitals especially when the CEO makes over $1,000,000 per year; that’s profit if you ask me!