Andy Carter, president and chief executive officer of the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, argues that while hospital charges are high they are mostly irrelevant. He seeks to explain the wide variations in price for the same procedures at different hospitals.
In an essay that ran on The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Web site, he says “I was disappointed to see headlines about high hospital charges dominating the media coverage of cost data released this month.
“The headlines attracted public attention. But they may distract us from a more important discussion about why we Americans spend so much on healthcare but are so unhealthy.
“Many factors are driving this sad reality, but high hospital charges are not chief among them.”
His piece details what he sees as the main contributing factors in the wide differences in hospital charges.
