Hospital have had to increase nurse’s pay. Now they are for 7 to 15% reimbursement increases.
Push back from employers & insurers.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hospitals-look-to-raise-treatme… If hospitals win heftier price increases they are seeking this year, that would likely result in higher premiums for employers and workers. But insurer and employer groups, which push for lower-cost contracts or negotiate them on behalf of coalitions of businesses, are rejecting the requests. The groups say the priciest hospitals can absorb higher labor costs without raising their rates.
“Most of the employers have been unable to increase the wages of their workers for years primarily because of the increasing cost of healthcare,” said Karen van Caulil, chief executive of employer coalition Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value.
Cheryl DeMars, CEO of the Alliance, a group of employers that provide insurance to 105,000 people in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa, said she has rejected hospitals’ requests this year for prices to recoup labor costs. “It looks to us like we’re overpaying to begin with,” she said. “We’re not inclined to just roll with requests for higher prices because of current inflationary pressure.”
I’d like to suggest that we ameliorate the much-needed nursing compensation increase by capping excessive Executive Compensation in the health care sector at no more than 10x the median nursing salary.
They do tell us that hospitals pay big numbers for travelling nurses when they are short of staff.
Staff must be paid better if you want to keep them.
Who pays for this increased cost? As always hospitals and insurers will negotiate a deal. Its likely the increased cost will be split between insurer and the insured in most cases.
Same old, same old. The alternative is shutting down hospitals for lack of staff. I don’t think that’s a viable option.
Same old, same old. The alternative is shutting down hospitals for lack of staff. I don’t think that’s a viable option.
No I don’t think so. Usually it is the individual patient that is hosed for increased costs. Now it is organizations with big money wrangling over higher costs. Likely a big plus for the legal profession as the wrangling will likely end up on court.
Don’t most major metropolitan cities have too many hospitals with an excess of beds & equipment?
In most businesses excess capacity leads to lower prices. But likely this is not true of hospitals as prices are difficult or impossible to find out. So comparison shopping is difficult or impossible. In any case, excess capacity seems not to be a barrier for hospitals remaining in business. The exception being that many rural hospitals due to financial reasons are closing placing rural population in jeopardy. Why does the free market no longer work for these regions? Does government has any responsibility for rural populations?
Does a surplus of beds lead doctors to fill them with patients for observation rather than admitted as the patient does not meet the standard of admittance? Many patients have discovered such status affects what their insurance or Medicare will pay.
In any case, our leaders spend many dollars for foreign meddling but has no desire to look at high cost & inefficiencies in US health care system. Likely because hospitals, pharmaceutical & medical like the present system as it is profitable for them & allows them to lobby government representatives. The US citizenry/patients takes it in shorts allowing this situation to continue.
Don’t most major metropolitan cities have too many hospitals with an excess of beds & equipment? In most businesses excess capacity leads to lower prices. But likely this is not true of hospitals as prices are difficult or impossible to find out. So comparison shopping is difficult or impossible. In any case, excess capacity seems not to be a barrier for hospitals remaining in business. The exception being that many rural hospitals due to financial reasons are closing placing rural population in jeopardy. Why does the free market no longer work for these regions?
Because the free market has not been a significant force in US health care since shortly after WWII.