Consolidation in Hospital Sector Leading to Higher Health Care Costs, Study Find
Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago
harris.uchicago.eduOtherstory
skepticalnegative
Debate
40/100
Healthcare ConsolidationHealthcare CostsHospital Mergers
Key topics
Healthcare Consolidation
Healthcare Costs
Hospital Mergers
A study found that consolidation in the hospital sector is leading to higher healthcare costs, sparking discussion on the impact of reduced competition and potential regulatory responses.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
1m
Peak period
3
0-2h
Avg / period
1.7
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Oct 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM EDT
2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM EDT
1m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
3 comments in 0-2h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Nov 1, 2025 at 5:09 AM EDT
2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45767688Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:30:03 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
Meanwhile the American Hospital Association blames regulation. https://www.aha.org/topics/regulatory-relief
Healthcare is 17% of GDP. You literally can't do that without having a TON of people benefitting because if it were only a small number of people benefiting (e.g. "just doctors" or "just insurance companies") the politicians would have long since voted to throw them under the bus to reap the bajillion votes they'd get from everyone else.
Lots of people aging into health care/ problems.
Rising demand + protectionism of med schools -> Higher wages and costs
Increased demand for care -> More nursing demand -> More student loans for nursing schools
More nurses making money and overworked -> More protectionism to save wages
Regulation to try to level costs and provide uniform care for "all" -> More paperwork -> more administrators -> slower care + costlier care
More costs -> More insurance premiums, more medicare/medicaid budget required
Consolidation -> higher profits + less overhead. ("one system")
Huge insurance companies, huge care providers, and gobs of nurses -> Voting sway
Voting sway -> Legislators try to work "within" the system
Otoh, it's often very hard to price shop, because it's difficult (often nearly impossible) to get an estimate for medical care when insurance may be involved. If you need your car repaired, you can get estimates and in many jurisdictions the mechanic needs consent to go beyond the estimate. If you want a cosmetic procedure that's never covered by insurance, you cam get an estimate that will be accurate unless there's complications (and if they're likely, you may get contingent estimates for likely options).
If you need a covered medical procedure, good luck; chances are you won't know what it cost until 6-9 months after.
In Germany, there is the GOÄ, which is a publicly-available list of procedures and what the public health insurance funds will pay doctors and hospitals for them. Private patients can be charged fixed multiples, but usually no more than about 3.5 times the "list" prices.