April 16th, 2009 – In light of a turbulent economy and facing government scrutiny and regulation over ever increasing costs in the health services sector, one major hospital chain and several leading drug makers thought this would be an idea time to raise prices.
HCA, Inc., one of the largest hospital owners in America and parent company for Colorado’s HealthOne hospitals,said it expects to report higher revenue for the first quarter even though it had fewer hospitals and admissions declined, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Incredibly, HSA added that its income had nearly doubled.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Eli Lilly increased prices of a dozen top selling drugs by double digits, as compared to a year ago.
Higher hospital and drug costs are largely to blame for increasing health insurance premiums.
HealthONE’s Colorado Facilities include: The Medical Center of Aurora and Centennial Medical Plaza; North Suburban Medical Center; Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at P/SL; Rose Medical Center; Sky Ridge Medical Center; Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital; Swedish Medical Center and Swedish Southwest ER.
