You know, while everyone’s always talking about drug prices, it turns out that about 30% of every dollar spent on healthcare in the U.S. actually goes to hospitals. Crazy, right? Hospitals are raking in nearly four times the cash compared to retail prescription meds each year, and it looks like that’s not changing anytime soon. A recent report points out how hospitals are a big part of why healthcare costs keep going up.

Finding One: Hospitals Are Marking Up Meds by an Average of 500%. So, a recent look at 20 different medications showed that hospitals are jacking up prices by more than 200% to over 700% compared to what they actually pay for them. This trend started popping up back in 2018!

Finding two: Commercial payers reimbursed hospitals almost 200% what the hospital paid to acquire the medicine. Because patient cost sharing is often based on these markups, this practice is driving up costs for patients. selected teaser image

Finding three: This study did not look closely at data from 340B hospitals. However, it estimates that these hospitals get paid nearly three times the discounted 340B price for medications. About 60% of hospitals in the United States participate in the 340B drug pricing program. These hospitals often have a higher average markup on medications. This is due to the significant discounts they receive when purchasing drugs. As lawmakers discuss health care costs and access, we need to consider the impact of hospitals. Hospitals play a significant role in the costs for patients. They also affect the health care system overall.

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