A new ''Big Data'' project from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics demonstrates that the prices hospitals negotiate with private health insurance companies vary considerably within and across geographic regions in the United States. The study, released today, provides the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of private health care spending in the U.S. to date and examines the real prices hospitals negotiate with private insurers for medical services. The researchers analyzed 92 billion health insurance claims from 88 million people covered by three of the nation's largest insurance companies: Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth. The data, provided by the Health Care Cost Institute, represents spending and utilization for nearly 30 percent of all individuals in the U.S. with employer-sponsored coverage.
This article was published online by Medical Xpress on December 16, 2015
Link to article here
Related publications
'The Price Ain't Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured', Zack Cooper, Stuart Craig, Martin Gaynor and John Van Reenen, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1395, December 2015
Related links
Zack Cooper webpage
John Van Reenen webpage
Growth Programme webpage
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