The public has lots of questions about the proposed partnership between UNC Health Care and Carolinas HealthCare System. How will this mega-marriage impact its workforce? Will UNC patients have access to services they didn’t have beforehand? Will Carolinas HealthCare patients enjoy access to treatments that were previously unavailable? How will the partnership benefit rural areas?
Also, what about costs? That seems to be the big-ticket question right now.
The evidence shows that hospital mergers generally result in higher health care prices, but mergers themselves are not the reason why patients are struggling to find affordable health care options. Rather, it’s the vast number of regulatory barriers that make it difficult for potential competitors to enter the health care space. Limited competition is what brings about artificially inflated prices.
Read all about it in my latest Health Care Update.
