NorCal Paying 70% More For Inpatient Prices Than SoCal

BAY AREA, CA -- When it comes to health care costs, Northern Californians are paying considerably more than Southern Californians. A study released this week by University of California, Berkeley, found that inpatient prices were 70 percent higher in Northern California compared to prices down south.

The study, conducted by the university's School of Public Health, analyzed the "rapid consolidation of the hospital, physician, and insurance markets in California from 2010 to 2016."

Researchers examined which California counties had "highly concentrated" primary care markets, orthopedics markets and radiology markets, among others.

"We found evidence that highly concentrated markets are associated with higher prices for a number of hospital and physician services and Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums," the study said. "In markets with Herfindahl-Hirschman Indices (HHIs) above 1,500, average inpatient procedures prices were 79% higher than the prices in markets with HHIs below 1,500."

Because Northern Californian is "considerably more concentrated than Southern California across all measures of health care market concentration," residents in the north are paying more for health care.

Outpatient prices were between 17 to 55 percent higher in Northern California than Southern California, and Affordable Care Act premiums were 35 percent higher.

"Even after adjusting for input cost differences (i.e. wages) between Northern California and Southern California, procedure prices are still often 20-30% higher in Northern California than Southern California," the study said.

"In sum, the pace of market consolidation in California has increased significantly," researchers wrote.

Read the full study here.

--Photo via Shutterstock