Private Hospital Prices Up Thirty Percent
Private hospital prices rose thirty percent since 2019. Medicare rose twenty-one. Same buildings. Same beds. Different invoice, depending on who signs the check.
KFF pulled the Producer Price Index from April 2019 through April 2026. Private insurance grew forty-seven percent faster than Medicare over those seven years. Hospitals already take nearly a third of national health spending. From 2022 to 2024 they were forty percent of the growth.
I am not shocked. In most metros, one or two systems control three quarters of the inpatient market. When you are the only hospital, you are not a price. You are a premium.
I am not anti-insurance. Keep a policy for the wreck. I am anti a gap that widens while premiums eat the raise. We take care of patients for a flat monthly fee. No claim. No network. The number on the door is the number you pay.
Thirty percent is a price. It just only shows up when somebody bothers to compare the Medicare line.