Hospital Buyouts Don't Quadruple Your Doctor Bills—But They Still Hurt Your Wallet

When Rep. Kevin Hern claimed that hospital acquisitions of physician practices can spike prices up to four times, it sounded alarming—and it got people’s attention. But the reality, according to fact-checkers working with Oklahoma Watch and Gigafact, is messier and less sensational, though arguably more insidious.

The truth: hospital takeovers of independent doctor offices do drive up costs for the same services by the same physicians—just not to the dramatic level Hern suggested. Most studies peg the increase at 14% to 15%. One outlier study found cases where prices jumped two to four times higher, but that research didn’t establish a direct causal link between the acquisition itself and those specific price spikes. In other words, correlation isn’t the same as causation, and those extreme cases appear to be exceptions rather than the rule.

But here’s the part that should concern you: even a 14% to 15% price bump with zero quality improvement is a real problem. When hospitals consolidate physician practices, they reduce competition in the local market—and less competition means higher prices with no offsetting benefit to patients. One study found that physicians previously integrated with acquiring hospitals saw their service prices jump 9% after acquisition, even though nothing about their actual practice changed. The only variable? Ownership structure.

The consolidation tsunami is hard to overstate. In 2008, hospitals directly employed 23.5% of physicians. By 2016, that number nearly doubled to 47.2%. Fast-forward to 2023, and the picture is even more concentrated: hospitals, health systems, and corporations now employ 77.6% of physicians and own 58.5% of practices. Nearly half of all metropolitan areas in 2024 are controlled by just one or two health systems when it comes to inpatient hospital care—meaning your choices aren’t as free as you might think.

So while Rep. Kevin Hern’s claim overshoots the mark, the underlying concern is legitimate. You might not see your bill quadruple, but you’ll likely see it climb without explanation. And in markets where one or two giants control the entire landscape, there’s nowhere else to turn.