HCFO Researcher Quoted in LA Times on Health Insurer Mergers & Competition

The LA Times [1] recently reported on proposed mergers among leading U.S. health insurers and the implications for consumers’ premiums. The article quoted HCFO-researcher, Erin Trish, Ph.D., University of Southern California, who stated that, "When insurers merge, there's almost always an increase in premiums," but she added that consolidation among insurers could lead to lower negotiated rates with hospitals. In their HCFO-funded study [2], Trish and Bradley Herring, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, explored the extent to which insurance concentration and its balance with hospital concentration affect health insurance premiums. Their findings were recently published in Health Affairs [3].