The article “Employer health plans pay hospitals 241% of Medicare” stated that private employer-sponsored health plans paid hospitals 2.4 times Medicare prices, on average, for the same services at the same hospitals in 2017, according to a RAND Health study of prices across 25 states.
And thank goodness they do. Private health insurance is subsidizing the care delivered to vulnerable populations (the elderly under Medicare and the impoverished through Medicaid, etc.). The cost of delivering services to Medicare and Medicaid patients often exceeds the payment for providing that care. Without employer-sponsored plans, the ability to deliver the quality of care we aspire to deliver would become impossible.
Susan Collingwood
Assistant dean
Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.