A Health Affairs study found that hospital prices for inpatient care grew 42 percent from 2007 to 2014, compared with 18 percent growth in physician prices for that same period. (Photo: Shutterstock)
A new study finds that hospital costs play an oversized role in overall health care cost increases—with hospital prices outpacing physician prices by almost 20 percent. The new research is adding to the debate about the role of mergers and acquisitions in hospital costs overall.
The study, by Health Affairs, found that hospital prices for inpatient care grew 42 percent from 2007 to 2014, compared with 18 percent growth in physician prices for that same period. In outpatient settings, hospital care grew 25 percent, compared to 6 percent for physician prices.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
