Despite Being Shamed for Overcharging Patients, Hospitals Raised Their Prices, Again

In a study released earlier this year, researchers looked at charges at 20 Florida hospitals during the three months before the negative publicity and again during the same three month period the following year. There was no evidence that negative publicity resulted in any reduction in charges. Instead, the charges were significantly higher following the publicity. In addition, the 20 hospitals studied were less likely than other Florida hospitals to achieve three or more stars in the quality metrics system used by CMS.