Consumers see physician prices rise

Consumers saw slower growth in hospital prices last month after a two-month spike, newly released figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

The seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for hospital services rose 0.4% in April after jumping 1.1% in March and 1.3% the prior month. April's more-modest climb compares with the 0.9% increase during the same month last year. For the year that ended last month, consumers saw hospital prices rise 8%, up from 7% during the same 12 months in 2009. Consumer price increases for inpatient and outpatient hospital services slowed to 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively.

Consumers saw physician prices rise 0.4% in April from a decrease of 0.1% the prior month. That's compared with an increase of 0.2% in April 2009. The physician CPI for the year that ended in April rose 3.4%, identical to the growth for the prior 12 months.