The Consumer Price Index for hospital services has been relatively stagnant for most of 2015, but that changed last month. Hospital prices increased 2% in October, the highest month-over-month growth this year.
Hospital prices had either been rising slowly or falling altogether this year, although April saw a 1.9% bump in the sector. Inpatient hospital prices grew at a faster monthly clip (2.3%) than outpatient (1.7%) in October, a reversal from earlier this year when tepid outpatient price growth offset declining inpatient prices, according to seasonally adjusted data (PDF) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Consumer Price Index measures what Americans spend on almost any commodity, ranging from jewelry to pet food, and gives a sense of economic inflation. For healthcare, the Consumer Price Index looks at what U.S. households spend on their health insurance premiums as well as any care paid for out-of-pocket. These data only incorporate commercial or individual premiums paid by consumers, thereby excluding Medicare and Medicaid.
Although consumers paid more for hospital services last month, the growth was not nearly the same in other sectors of healthcare. The prices of services in physician offices stayed flat in October, while dental services ticked up a meager 0.1%. Health insurance services went up by 1.2%.
The prices of medical care commodities—which include drugs, medical equipment and other supplies—also barely moved month to month, increasing 0.2% in October.
The national Consumer Price Index similarly budged upward by 0.2%.
