- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Fewer Hospitals May Lead to Higher Prices
Consolidation reduces competition in markets and gives hospitals more leverage to raise prices.
On July 16, two New York City hospital networks announced they were merging to create the largest health care system in the metropolitan area and one of the biggest in the country. The CEO of one of the hospitals said the merger would pave the way for more “efficient” and “integrated” care. Joining the two networks into one entity — to be called the Mount Sinai Health System — would also compensate for “the inability of the federal government or the state governments to be able to pay for the health care that people in the past have demanded,” he told the New York Times.
Put another way, the new large system will have more market power that may allow it to demand higher reimbursements from private insurers, ultimately raising costs for consumers.
Consolidation like this is happening all over the country, as hospitals acquire each other and merge in a trend that started decades ago and may be accelerated by the new health care law. This consolidation reduces competition in markets and gives hospitals more leverage to raise prices.
Read the full story here: http://ti.me/12eJxfG
Source: Time
Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
Listen
For Neuromuscular Disease Community, an Era of Opportunities and Threats
March 17th 2025Robert Califf, MD, former commissioner of the FDA, delivered a keynote address at the 2025 Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinical & Scientific Conference that highlighted the enormous opportunities for progress in neuromuscular disease care amid a changing policy environment.
Read More
The Impact of Cost Sharing on High-Value Care
March 14th 2025Michael Chernew, PhD, professor of health care policy and director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation Lab, Harvard Medical School, shares how cost-sharing policies shape access to critical health care services and influence value-based insurance design.
Read More
Oz Confirmation Hearing Probes Vision for Medicaid but Coalesces Around Well-Being
March 14th 2025Mehmet Oz, MD, the nominee to lead CMS under the Trump administration, testified in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, where he found common ground on improving outcomes through healthier lifestyle choices but encountered repeated questions on potential Medicaid cuts.
Read More
