Hospital CPI rises 0.8% in December

Consumer prices for hospital services increased 0.8% in December after a drop of 0.2% the prior month, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency's Consumer Price Index for hospital services showed a 0.6% increase in December 2009. For the 12 months ended in December, hospital consumer prices increased 7.6%, nearly the same as the prior year's 7.7% climb.

Inpatient hospital consumer prices increased 0.9% in December and outpatient prices rose 0.7% last month, the figures show.

For physician services, consumer prices rose 0.1% in December, compared with the prior month's 0.3% increase. For December 2009, consumer physician prices also increased 0.1%. For the 12 months ended in December, the physician CPI rose 3.4% after rising 2.5% the prior year.