Posted on 08/12/2013 1:23:03 PM PDT by Lorianne
Hospitals across the nation are being swept up in the biggest wave of mergers since the 1990s, a development that is creating giant hospital systems that could one day dominate American health care and drive up costs.
The consolidations are being driven by a confluence of powerful forces, not least of which is President Obama’s signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act. That law, many experts say, is transforming the economics of health care and pushing a growing number of hospitals into the arms of suitors.
The changes are unfolding with remarkable speed. Two big for-profit hospital chains, Community Health Systems of Tennessee and Health Management Associates of Florida, are combining in a $7.6 billion deal.
In fact, Booz & Company, a consulting firm, predicts that 1,000 of the nation’s roughly 5,000 hospitals could seek out mergers in the next five to seven years.
Some economists and health insurance companies worry that the trend could raise health care costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Big Government + Big Business = Big Sucking Sound
Case in point.....Pittsburgh.
UPMC was allowed to buy up nearly 85% of the hospitals in this region, giving them near-monopoly status. They owned hospitals and medical practices, and a large insurance company. If you had a health problem and your insurance did not play by their rules, you were SOL.
Only when they announced that they’d stop accepting Highmark BC/BS insurance did things hit the fan. Highmark defended itself by purchasing the bankrupt and rapidly dying Allegheny Health System to try and quickly set up its own network.
Best-case for the region now is you’ll have your choice of one of 2 monopolistic behemoths who won’t play nice with each other.
There are rumblings from Harrisburg that the state is going to step in and MAKE them play nice. Which is to say the state will basically be taking over healthcare in this region.
There are some areas where medical facilities have been overbuilt. A large plant, not used to near potential, is costly. Instead of looking at consolidation as a bad thing, I think there are many positive aspects of merging.
More services will be available under one roof. The full plant can be supported because of optimal utilization. It’s generally a healthier environment financially, if the beds are full.
I don’t want to see a large chain dominate markets. That would be sort of like having only the government provide service, with no alternatives.
Ooooh—my mom is boycoting UPMC. I think she’d die rather than use one of their facilities.
Unfortunately, if you’re a patient in one of the big places, you are going to end up paying for all of their services(indirectly) whether you use them or not. You are much better off using facilities that only have what you are going to use—such a an ambulatory surgery center where you are not paying the salaries of pharmacists, food services, etc. The costs aqssociated with such centers are sometimes a quarter of what you might pay in a large facility.
For real. What good are all these so-called “regulators” if they were asleep at the wheel allowing UPMC to buy up that big a share of the local hospitals and med practices?
Some information perhaps not known by everyone. I just discovered it and hopefully it will help others.
There are independent imaging places to get tests like MRI’s, Chest x-rays etc., that are a heck of a lot cheaper than medical centers (outpatient) connected to local hospitals. My daughter got an MRI $1600 cheaper than at the outpatient medical center and I have been quoted $395.00 for a CT Scan as opposed to the cost at the outpatient medical center for $2900.00. I saw a commercial on TV for the center and found that they are located in our area and gave them a call AND they do participate in our Medicare Advantage plan. Under my coverage I’ll pay $300.00 of that cost but at least I’m saving taxpayers $2505.00.
If you’re scheduled for any of these tests, try to find an independent place and get prices. Of course, check to see if your insurance plan covers them. It’s been my experience that the doctor’s offices go ahead and make appointments with the places they are familiar and affiliated with when we should be the ones controlling it. I’m 77 years old and never had any experience with the medical field before this (thank goodness) so it’s all new to me. Maybe some others will be happy to get the information also.
Hopefully, there are more available across the country.
The medical business generates the OPPOSITE of economies of scale - they generate DIS-economies of scale.
In addition to saving on MRIs, you can also save on lab tests and outpatient medical care if you self pay. This can really help for those with large deductibles or co-pays, or no insurance. Of course, you won’t find any discounts at large hospitals systems, but you can find good deals at independent and solo practices that accept self pay patients.
Even if costs are going up for medical care at hospitals, pay is going down for physicians and many are now opting out of Medicare and private third party insurance. Some Medicare patients may even go outside of the big box hospital system and self pay so that they can get high quality, confidential and personalized health care which is often cheaper in the long run than assembly line medicine.
Remember, Democrats really like corporations, because they are easier to nationalize.
The only ones who were left out of this party were the consumers.
A BIG part of this baked into the new Obamacare rules. Hospitals are forced to have a comprehensive system to handle patients after discharge because if they bounce back to the hospital after discharge it faces big penalties. So their “ community plan” has to include outpatient clinics , provider nets, rehab, home health, nursing homes, ANYTHING and everything that can prevent the patient from having to be readmitted. Only rich, large systems can do this. Many smaller community hospitals have to sign on with the big systems or die.
I don’t disagree with that. The problem is most people don’t think rationally like you do.
Those pharmacists at the hospitals are only there to provide services to people who really need them. Thus folks should only go to the hospital if they are in bad enough shape where they must go.
It is likely that Medicare (and certainly Medicaid) would reimburse each place about the same amount (regardless of billing) from the standard fee schedule.
“There are some areas where medical facilities have been overbuilt.”
Call for Mayor Menino...
In my area we used to have about seven hospitals within just a few minutes ride by car.
Burbank Community Hospital
Glendale Adventist Medical Center
Glendale Community Hospital
Glendale Memorial Hospital
Huntington Memorial Hospital
Saint Joseph’s Medical Center
Verdugo Hills Hospital
I could get to any of these within about ten minutes.
There were times when these each had a lot of empty beds. Several went under. Five of them are still going...
Let us not forget that under Obamacare, no privately owned hospitals may be built and no existing ones may expand.
“”It is likely that Medicare (and certainly Medicaid) would reimburse each place about the same amount (regardless of billing) from the standard fee schedule.””
That’s probably true. I wonder what the standard would be. Must be $2600 as I paid $300 of a $2900 bill for the first CT Scan in June. I have to have a re-check in September so I made the appointment at the independent place. So regardless of where I have it done, I’ll have to pay $300 based on my coverage but Medicare would still pay the same $2600.00 from a fee schedule??? That’s NUTS!!!
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