CPI for hospitals unchanged in August, up 4.1% year-to-year

Inpatient hospital prices were flat and outpatient hospital prices declined 0.3% last month, the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index show. Overall, hospital prices were unchanged in August.

The seasonally adjusted prices for hospitals are a sharp departure from the 1.9% growth in August 2013 and factor into healthcare's continued sluggish inflation picture. Another measure of inflation, the Producer Price Index, found no change in prices paid by insurers last month to hospitals and physician offices.

For the 12 months that ended in August, the Consumer Price Index shows hospital prices increased 4.1% compared with 5.7% the prior year.

Prices for physician services increased 0.4% in August compared with no change in the same month the prior year. For the year that ended in August, consumer prices for physician services increased 1.5%, identical to the change the prior 12 months.

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