New Study - Hospitals Hike Charges by Up to 18 Times Cost

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

 Fleecing Patients: Hospitals Charge Patients More Than Four Times the Cost of Care

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

•  U.S. hospitals charge on average $417 for every $100 of their total costs, in statistical terms a 417 percent charge-to-cost ratio. 
• Hospital charges over costs have been climbing steadily over the past 20 years—in 1999 hospitals charged on average 200 percent of their costs; by 2018, hospital charges equaled 417 percent of their costs. The average charge-to-cost ratio more than doubled over this time period...
• ...   Higher charge-to-cost ratios tend to be strongly associated with higher hospital profits...

...   As the Covid outbreak deepens, a simple truth remains: increasing hospital charges play a substantial role in our country’s skyrocketing health care costs and deteriorating health. Moving away from their focus on patient care and community service, hospitals have become increasingly fixated on profits, leaving millions of patients and families to suffer...

https://act.nationalnursesunited.org/page/-/files/graphics/1120_CostChargeRatios_Report_FINAL_PP.pdf

[amoLucia]

Just to affirm this - it cost $6000 for 2 units of blood when I was hospitalized in May. Am ever so thankful for the donor(s) who donated during the springtime height of C19. 

But my itemized bill showed bloodbank charges for the 2 units.

[litepath2]

Not so hard to recon considering the rise in Admin jobs over time. They need to pay themselves. They rule the roost. And if I may, with few exceptions they suck. . .like a leach.

 

 

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

COVID-19 surge threatens hospital finances

Hospital operating margins are poised to fall as COVID-19 cases increase, data show. Although federal relief funding gave some relief, the median hospital operating margin dropped 1.2 percentage points year over year, and 1.7 percentage points through October, Kaufman Hall found…

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/finance/covid-19-surge-threatens-hospital-finances?utm_source=modern-healthcare-covid-19-coverage&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201130&utm_content=article1-readmore 

PS: I don't subscribe so couldn't post the entire article.