- http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/how-the-health-law-could-raise-prices-20120216
- http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/in-praise-of-maryland-s-hospital-price-fixing-20120315
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
18-Feb-12
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The 2010 Health Policy law was designed to expand health insurance coverage and to lower the cost of health care. But a series of provisions have driven a wave of hospital mergers and hospital-physician consolidation, a phenomenon that could undermine the law’s effectiveness by driving up health care prices. The story documents the trends in consolidation since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and analyzes the likely outcome of this dramatic change in the health industry landscape.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The story relies on industry analyses of merger trends and bond ratings. It also surveys antitrust court records and the academic literature on the relationship between market concentration and cost in the health sector.
Explain types of human sources used.
Sources include academics, industry analysts, think-tankers, hospital executives, physicians, and industry trade groups.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
None.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Given the scope and ambition of the Affordable Care Act, it’s important for us to examine whether its results are matching its policy ambitions. While big shifts in the hospital business model were evident immediately, many other key effects will only start to become clear in the coming years. This story required a deep dive into health care economics, and relied heavily on literature review and many, many interviews with experts. All that reporting helped me synthesize the data about what is happening with the economics literature about what it means for the future.