Healthcare Affordability

Lowering Healthcare Costs

The US spends more on healthcare than any other country. The rising cost of healthcare is a growing economic and public health crisis that hurts the U.S. economy, threatens individual financial security, compromises care, and reduces patient access. Meanwhile, effective treatments and value-based care models that improve health outcomes and lower costs suffer limited access and low adoption due to inadequate insurance coverage and other practice, policy and financial barriers and disincentives.

Why it matters

$4.5 Trillion

National health expenditures in 2022

45%

Americans fear bankruptcy if faced with major health event

2-to-1

Growth of healthcare spending vs. household income

$2 Trillion

Employer spending on health coverage by 2040

Objective

Advance and support policy and practice reforms that lower healthcare costs, improve outcomes and increase access to age-friendly models of care.

Current goals

Validate emerging and existing care models through data collection, analysis, and measurement

Expand reforms including Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, site–neutral payments, capping insulin prices and increased price transparency

Increase visibility of the public health consequences of a high-priced healthcare system on Americans as they age

Spotlight

Same Service, Same Price

Supporting policies to curb unfair billing practices and increase price transparency

West Health favors site-neutral payment reforms, or other policy solutions that ensure insurers and consumers pay the same price for the same doctor visits, procedures, and tests regardless of where they are delivered.

Check out our latest “Same Service, Same Price” resources for more information.

States are providing a blueprint for policy change: 11 states have enacted new laws and regulations to control facility fees—or the additional fees charged by hospitals and their outpatient departments. Learn More
Clinical lab markups reveal inconsistent pricing for the same service: Nationally, insurers pay about three- times more for tests such as simple blood and urine tests when billed by hospital outpatient departments compared to doctor’s offices. Learn More

Resources from the Health Savers Initiative: a collaborative project of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), Arnold Ventures and West Health.

Moving to site neutrality in Commercial Insurance Payments: Reducing commercial premiums by $368 billion and cost-sharing for consumers by $73 billion. Learn More
Equalizing Medicare payments regardless of site: Reducing premiums and cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries by $94 billion. Learn More

Healthcare Consolidation is a Major Contributor to Rising Costs

Healthcare consolidation and rising costs

Market consolidation in healthcare drives up costs. Since 2010, more than 1,000 hospital mergers have contributed to a 300% increase in hospital prices despite promises it would do the opposite. Check out this animated short to learn more.

Watch Now

Healthcare Affordability Dashboard

Our interactive data dashboard, created in partnership with Gallup, the national polling organization, serves as a tool for elected officials, policy makers, the public and other stakeholders to better understand the impact of high healthcare prices on everyday Americans.

View Gallup Dashboard