In a new AHA blog, Aaron Wesolowski, AHA’s vice president of policy research, analytics and strategy, sets the record straight about false narratives portraying hospitals and health systems as uniquely responsible for increased health care prices, and using these narratives in attempts to deny hospitals and health systems the financial relief they desperately need. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, price growth for hospital care services was just 2.4% in 2018. In fact, even when excluding the artificially low rates paid to hospitals by Medicare and Medicaid, annual price growth has still been below 3% in recent years according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Any suggestion that more resources should get pulled from hospitals and health systems right now — during a global pandemic — is beyond reckless,” writes Wesolowski. “Doing so would endanger patients and threaten access to care for communities across America." 

Related News Articles

Headline
The House Ways and Means Subcommittees on Health and Oversight held a joint hearing today to discuss lessons learned, challenges and opportunities to improve…
Headline
The AHA today expressed support for the Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill that would eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient…
Headline
The AHA July 8 wrote in opposition to the “Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act” (H.R. 4002), which would repeal current law banning the creation…
Headline
The AHA July 3 released the Health Care Plan Accountability Update for the second quarter of 2025. The update covers the latest developments in Medicare…
Headline
The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services today announced the creation of the DOJ-HHS False Claims Act Working Group to combat health care fraud…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced it has identified a fraud scheme targeting Medicare providers and suppliers. CMS said scammers…