Hospitals across the country are charging private insurance companies 2.5 times what they get from Medicare for the same care, according to a new RAND Corp. study of hospital prices released Friday.
While the pandemic caused losses for many hospitals, many of these big systems are sitting on large profit reserves while also receiving some of the $175 billion in aid Congress allocated to make up for their costs and lost revenue. Story continues“There’s a lot of energy behind the public option, and this is clearly one of the reasons,” said Dan Mendelson, the founder of Avalere Health, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm.
“We cannot survive in that kind of the world,” he said, adding that many hospitals are struggling financially because of the pandemic. “To suggest cutting hospitals during a pandemic is outrageous.” The RAND data “predates Parkview’s new agreements with several major insurance companies and direct-to-employer partnerships,” as well as significant price reductions for outpatient care, said Parkview’s chief executive, Mike Packnett, in a statement.
The pandemic could make things worse as big hospitals scoop up struggling physician practices or their smaller competitors. In West Virginia, Mountain Health Network is made up of the 2018 merger of two hospitals, after Cabell Huntington acquired its competitor over the objections of federal officials. Cabell was one of the nation’s most expensive systems from 2016 through 2018, according to the study. Mountain Health now has its eyes on a local physician group.
Hospitals have to recoup what they lose in patients that don't have insurance or have money to pay their bills. My 30min in the ER cost 3k. And all I needed was for the doctor to pop my shoulder back in place. Very basic very simple.
So then what does 'Medicare for All' do to those hospitals?