Recession not to blame for cost increases at not-for-profit hospitals, study says

Mar 8 2013

Modern Healthcare: Recession Didn't Spur Price Increases At Most Not-For-Profit Hospitals: Study
Most not-for-profit hospitals did not offset investment losses from the Great Recession by raising prices, according to a new study. Its authors say the finding suggests private insurers may not pay the price as hospitals bear new cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Hospitals that saw large losses did, however, curtail investment in information technology and unprofitable services, which included trauma care and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, the authors wrote in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. A limited number of hospitals did raise prices, according to research conducted by David Dranove, director of Northwestern University's Center for Health Industry Market Economics, and Craig Garthwaite and Christopher Ody, assistant professors of management and strategy at Northwestern. Those hospitals likely had significant market clout, the paper said (Evans, 3/6).