Dominant hospital systems use an array of secret contract terms to protect their turf and block efforts to curb health care costs. As part of these deals, hospitals can demand insurers include them in every plan and discourage use of less-expensive rivals. Other terms allow hospitals to mask prices from consumers, limit audits of claims, add extra fees, and block efforts to exclude health care providers based on quality or cost. The U.S. spends more per capita on health care than any other developed nation and will soon spend close to 20 percent of its GDP on health. Americans aren’t buying more healthcare overall than other countries. What they are buying is increasingly expensive. (Anna Wilde Mathews, The Wall Street Journal)
