To: Doug McVay (Editor of Drug War Facts and the forthcoming Health Systems Facts)
From: Robert Field (Publisher of the above)
Re: Review of Priced Out, written by Uwe Reinhardt and reviewed by Adam Gaffney
The above is a great article and very illuminating. I have ordered the book.
Interestingly, NewsLanc criticized Lancaster General Hospital for years for their selected pricing and goals to maximize profits without regard for people who could not afford its services.
Then General, a ‘501c Public Charity’, merged with Penn Medicine out of Philadelphia, depriving our region with a billion dollar asset.
From: Doug McVay
To: Robert Field
Yes, I did that research. I recall we got data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council to compare what area hospitals charged for various procedures. They still gather and publish reports on the prices charged by hospitals in the state for various procedures.
The thing is, those prices are like a rack rate, the real prices each hospital charged varied depending on the insurance provider and type. Nonetheless those reports are useful.
I know that back then Pennsylvania was one of the few states to gather and report that data. Hopefully more are doing so now, but I can’t say for sure.
