NYT publishes AHA response to op-ed that claimed hospitals as driver of rising health care costs

The New York Times published a letter to the editor May 16 by AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack that responds to a May 4 op-ed that claimed hospitals are the biggest culprit in rising health care costs. The letter states:

"This essay does not explore a fundamental truth of hospital care: Costs reflect inputs, and those inputs have risen sharply with inflation and other pressures.

"In 2025, hospital expenses increased 7.5 percent, with sharp increases in labor, drugs and medical supplies. At the same time, patients are arriving sicker, requiring more complex care, driving up hospital costs. Meanwhile, Medicare and Medicaid routinely reimburse below the cost of providing services, and insurers increasingly use tactics that delay or deny payment - disrupting care and adding administrative cost and burden.

"Hospitals are largely price takers, not price setters; government programs set rates administratively, and insurers negotiate payment terms. In 2025, expenses grew about twice as fast as hospital reimbursements for patient care, meaning hospitals absorbed much of the increase instead of shifting it to patients or payers. Federal government actuaries and other researchers have concluded that higher health spending is primarily driven by increased use and intensity of services - not hospital prices.

"Hospitals are working to keep high-quality care affordable and accessible. Singling out any one actor will not solve the problem. Real progress requires all stakeholders - insurers, government, drug companies, providers and patients - to work together to address underlying cost pressures."

Other responses to the op-ed were also published, including letters by Erik N. Steele, former CEO of Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital in Blue Hill, Maine, and Lynn Falcone, chief executive of Cuero Regional Hospital in Cuero, Texas.