A healthcare affordability crisis is among us. And while President Trump’s recent healthcare plan announcement appropriately targets high healthcare costs and the need for greater transparency, we can’t have a real conversation about affordability without confronting the biggest driver of those costs: hospitals.
In the last decade, employer coverage costs have increased by 47%, in part due to billing abuses, such as hidden fees charged by hospitals, which, in addition to cutting take-home pay for hard-working patients and limiting business growth for job creators, cost Americans an estimated $240 billion every year in wasteful spending. And government programs end up shouldering unrestrained healthcare prices with your taxes.
Insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs aren’t a made up number. They reflect the cost of what hospitals charge.
As the number one driver of healthcare costs, corporate hospitals use their market dominance to jack up prices with little to no accountability. If we’re to make a serious run at addressing the affordability crisis, we must also promote hospital competition, enforce price transparency, and implement reforms that stop hidden markups and dishonest billing practices.
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