Health Economics & Costs – Page 502 – The Goodman Institute Health Blog

Concentrated Health Care Markets

Posted on July 20, 2022 by John C. Goodman

By 2017, in most markets, a single hospital system had more than a 50 percent market share of discharges. In 2016, markets for specialist physicians exhibited what federal antitrust authorities consider a high degree of concentration in 65 percent of metropolitan areas. Markets for primary‐care physicians exhibited high concentration in 39 percent of metropolitan areas…. In 2016, 57 percent of health insurance markets exhibited high concentration; in 2018, 75 percent did.

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Reefer Madness: Crashes Increased After Marijuana Legalized

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Devon Herrick

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that auto accidents rose in states that legalized recreational marijuana. Car crashes with injuries jumped 6% while fatal auto accidents increased 4%. Comparison states that did not legalize recreational marijuana saw no increase in these types of accidents. The states that legalized recreational marijuana examined in the study were California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. The comparison states where cannabis is not legal were Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

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FTC to Block Hospital Consolidation

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Devon Herrick

Hospital consolidation is a growing problem. Hospitals merge with rivals to gain market share and to increase bargaining power with health insurers. Market share allows hospitals to negotiate as a block of hospitals rather than individual hospitals competing with each other on price. Research has found that when hospitals merge prices in the area rises as competition is reduced. It generally starts as consolidation within a metropolitan area and then expands to other major markets within the state.

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Monday Links

Posted on July 18, 2022July 25, 2022 by John C. Goodman

Prices that aren’t rising: drugs. In fact, they are falling.
If global warming is bad for health, why do so few people die from excessive heat in India and Pakistan?
BA.5 doesn‘t care if you’ve just had Covid-19.
US men have the highest rate of avoidable deaths among developed countries. The Commonwealth Foundation blames capitalism.
Paragon study: Insulin bill would raise costs, add to the federal deficit and hurt patients.
Health care CEOs are doing well: more than 100 of them pulled in at least eight figures last year.

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