Insurer Market Power Lowers Prices In Numerous Concentrated Markets.
Using prices of hospital admissions and visits to five types of physicians, we analyzed how provider and insurer market concentration--as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)--interact and are correlated with prices. We found evidence that in the range of the Department of Justice's and...
| Publicado en: | Health Affairs Vol. 36; no. 9; pp. 1539 - 1547 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Health Affairs Publishing, LLC
Sep2017
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=125308706&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 125308706 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 02782715 HAF jtl: Health Affairs issn: 02782715 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2017 vid: 36 iid: 9 pid: 1453 pub: Health Affairs Publishing, LLC place: Washington, District of Columbia artinfo: ui: 125308706 125308706 125308706 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0552 125308706 ppf: 1539 ppct: 8 formats: tig: atl: Insurer Market Power Lowers Prices In Numerous Concentrated Markets. aug: au: Scheffler, Richard M. Arnold, Daniel R. affil: Distinguished professor of health economics and public policy at the School of Public Health, at the University of California, Berkeley sug: subj: Insurance, Health Insurance Carriers Economic Competition Health Insurance Exchanges Human Government Agencies Comparative Studies Primary Health Care Physicians Variable Hospitals Health Care Costs Insurance, Health, Reimbursement Preferred Provider Organizations Surveys Linear Regression Current Procedural Terminology Funding Source ab: Using prices of hospital admissions and visits to five types of physicians, we analyzed how provider and insurer market concentration--as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)--interact and are correlated with prices. We found evidence that in the range of the Department of Justice's and Federal Trade Commission's definition of a moderately concentrated market (HHI of 1,500-2,500), insurers have the bargaining power to reduce provider prices in highly concentrated provider markets. In particular, hospital admission prices were 5 percent lower and cardiologist, radiologist, and hematologist/oncologist visit prices were 4 percent, 7 percent, and 19 percent lower, respectively, in markets with high provider concentration and insurer HHI above 2,000, compared to such markets with insurer HHI below 2,000. We did not find evidence that high insurer concentration reduced visit prices for primary care physicians or orthopedists, however. The policy dilemma that arises from our findings is that there are no insurer market mechanisms that will pass a portion of these price reductions on to consumers in the form of lower premiums. Large purchasers of health insurance such as state and federal governments, as well as the use of regulatory approaches, could provide a solution. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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