Dive Brief:

• The Consumer Price Index for hospitals, released by the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics, increased 0.2% last month. 
• The Consumer Price Index for the year that ended in November shows a 4.7% increase in hospital prices, compared with 4.4% growth the prior year. The index is one measure of inflation and tracks changes in commercial prices for hospital and physician services.
• Inpatient hospital prices increased 0.1% in November, CPI data show, while outpatient prices were largely unchanged.

Dive Insight:

While the CPI increase is slight, it reflects the steady, upward creep of the price of inpatient care. While there is big movement toward pricing transparency and pressure to keep costs to consumers at a reasonable level, much of the cost of care is gradually shifting toward consumers.

A recent report revealed that the number of Americans with unpaid medical bills has spiked to nearly 43 million. This creates a bigger problem for hospitals, in terms of getting patients to pay their bills and make payment plans in a timely manner.