Critics of POHs argue that this is because they serve fewer Medicaid and Medicare patients. A research letter published in 2023 in JAMA Network Open found that Medicaid patients make up only 3% of the population served by POHs, compared to 7.1% for non-physician-owned hospitals.
Here are five statistics highlighting how POHs charge less:
1. Median commercial negotiated prices were 33.7% lower in POHs compared to non-POHs, according to the JAMA letter.
2. Median cash prices in POHs were 32.7% lower than those in non-POHs.
3. Hospital plan-level regression analysis revealed that POH status was associated with 17.5% lower negotiated prices and 46.7% lower cash prices for the same procedures within the same hospital referral region.
4. POHs saved Medicare approximately $1.1 billion in 2019, according to a recent report analyzing expenses related to 20 of the most costly conditions for Medicare patients.
5. For some of Medicare’s most expensive diagnostic groups, total payments at POHs were 8% to 15% lower than those at traditional non-physician-owned hospitals, a report analyzing 2019 Medicare data found.
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