Federal Data Show U.S. Hospital Prices Increased by 2% in October

Prices for hospital services increased by 2% in October after remaining mostly stagnant so far this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent Consumer Price Index, Modern Healthcare reports.

The increase marked the highest month-to-month growth in hospital prices in 2015.

According to the seasonally adjusted data, hospital prices for the most part had either increased slowly or decreased throughout the year. Until this past month, the highest increase (1.9%) came in April.

Inpatient hospital prices increased by 2.3% in October, compared with a 1.7% increase in prices for outpatient care. According to Modern Healthcare, growth in outpatient care prices had outpaced growth in inpatient hospital care prices earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the data indicated that prices for care received in physician offices did not increase or decrease in October. However, prices increased by:

• 1.2% for health insurance services;
• 0.2% for medical care commodities, such as drugs, medical devices and other supplies; and
• 0.1% for dental services (Herman, Modern Healthcare, 11/17).