Mergers and acquisitions involving hospitals and different well being care suppliers are drawing consideration from federal and state regulators, together with the Federal Commerce Fee, and policymakers, amid issues that such consolidations might cut back competitors and contribute to the excessive value of well being care .

A brand new KFF letter examines and summarizes the proof on consolidation amongst well being care suppliers as extra neighborhood hospitals grow to be half of a bigger system, and extra physicians discover themselves in practices owned by hospitals and programs.

Drawing on all kinds of sources, the transient gives perception into the tempo of consolidation amongst suppliers, its influence on costs and high quality, and coverage proposals aimed toward decreasing consolidation and rising competitors, equivalent to:

• After a wave of consolidation within the early and mid-Nineties, there have been 1,573 hospital mergers between 1998 and 2017, and an extra 428 mergers of hospitals and well being care programs had been introduced between 2018 and 2023.
• The share of physicians who work for a hospital or in a observe that’s at the very least partially owned by a hospital or well being care system has elevated from 29% in 2012 to 41% in 2022. As well as, a rising share of doctor practices are owned by different enterprise entities. together with insurance coverage firms.
• Whereas consolidation can permit suppliers to function extra effectively, a major quantity of analysis reveals that it typically results in larger healthcare costs. Total, the proof reveals no clear good points in entry or high quality.
• Some research have discovered that hospital consolidation can result in decrease wages for some expert staff, equivalent to nurses. The broader proof on employment and pay results is restricted, together with the extent to which mergers that forestall closures might protect jobs.
• State and federal coverage proposals to deal with consolidation and enhance competitors embrace strengthening antitrust enforcement, decreasing monetary incentives for supplier consolidation, rising worth transparency, and permitting extra suppliers to enter the market. Every of those proposals would include tradeoffs, and the extent to which they may cut back healthcare prices is unclear as many markets are already extremely concentrated.

The task is a part of KFF's rising work inspecting the enterprise practices of hospitals and different suppliers and their influence on prices and affordability.