Hospital Pricing and the Uninsured

Are hospital prices to the uninsured systematically different from prices to the insured by examining the trends in charges (list prices), net revenues (net prices)? Is there a relationship between the two, while controlling for other factors that may affect prices at the hospital level? This study addressed the following questions: (1) Is there evidence that uninsured patients are charged more than insured patients for similar services? (2) Is there evidence that uninsured patients pay more than insured patients for similar services? (3) If uninsured patients pay higher prices than insured patients are the differences systematically related to factors such as type of hospital or financial status of the hospital? (4) For hospitals that are collecting higher prices from uninsured patients, what is the order of magnitude of these additional revenues and how important are these higher prices to overall profitability and financial status of the hospital? The objective of this project was to inform policymakers and hospital leaders about the effects and implications of current hospital pricing practices on the uninsured, on the future of high deductible health plans, and on hospital finances.