Hospitals lift curtain on prices, revealing giant swings in pricing by procedure

As of Jan. 1, hospitals must publicly reveal the negotiated rates reached with insurers for services, a landmark shift in the sector notoriously opaque when it comes to pricing. Judges forcefully pushed back against the American Hospital Association's claims that the policy was unlawful and that some prices were "Unknowable" and therefore hospitals could not publish them. Healthcare Dive analyzed the new pricing data released by a handful of separate health systems across the country and found dramatic price ranges for the same procedure, even within the same hospital. For the first time, it's possible to directly compare the prices each insurance company negotiated with a hospital for a single service like a hip replacement due to rules put forward in 2019 under former President Donald Trump's administration. When shopping, consumers and employers will likely first notice the variation in prices for a single procedure. In New York, a hip or knee replacement price may be anywhere between $14,202 to $45,387 at New York Health + Hospitals Elmhurst location in Queens. The swing in prices was also evident for both vaginal and C-section deliveries with ranges reaching nearly $55,000 between the minimum and maximum price at one location.