Same Knee Surgery, Twice the Price: Hospital Monopolies Push up Healthcare Costs
Mission Hospital charged about $40,000 for a knee replacement, while nearby Catawba Valley Medical Center billed about $16,000, data showed.
- At Mission Hospital in Asheville, knee surgery costs around $40,000, more than double the price at Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, according to recent pricing data.
- Mission Hospital's pricing power traces back to a 1998 merger that created a regional monopoly, which subsequently abandoned state-mandated profit limits after lobbying the state legislature in 2015.
- Data reveals Mission charges $17,700 for hernia repairs compared to $9,600 at Catawba, while nurse Marcelle Crago reported being quoted over $9,000 for care she later secured for a third of that price elsewhere.
- To hold the hospital accountable, North Carolina state Sen. Julie Mayfield helped launch Reclaim Healthcare WNC, while federal inspectors have issued "immediate jeopardy" findings three times since 2024 regarding patient safety.
- Hospital consolidation drives insurance premiums higher nationwide, with the Federal Trade Commission intervening in only about 1% of cases from 2002 to 2020 to stop hospital mergers.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Same knee surgery, twice the price: Hospital monopolies push up healthcare costs • Asheville Watchdog
More than a million times a year, a U.S. surgeon slices open a knee, strips out worn cartilage, caps the leg bones with metal, and drops in a plastic spacer to allow the new joint to glide. While knee replacement procedures have become standard, however, the prices charged have not. At Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina, for example, the cost of the procedure under a Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan this year was about $1…
KFF Health News
Same Knee Surgery, Twice the Price: Hospital Monopolies Push Up Healthcare Costs
More than a million times a year, a U.S. surgeon slices open a knee, strips out worn cartilage, caps the leg bones with metal, and drops in a plastic spacer to allow the new joint to glide. While knee replacement procedures have become standard, however, the prices charged have not. At Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina, for example, the cost of the procedure under a Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan this year was about $1…
Hospital mergers linked to higher healthcare costs
More than a million times a year, a U.S. surgeon slices open a knee, strips out worn cartilage, caps the leg bones with metal, and drops in a plastic spacer to allow the new joint to glide. While knee replacement procedures have become standard, however, the prices charged have not. At Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina, for example, the cost of the procedure under a Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan this year was about $1…
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