The Weight of High Hospital Prices Is Keeping American Workers Underwater

Every worker in America deserves the opportunity to earn a living wage and have access to high-quality and affordable health care that keeps them and their families healthy. Yet high and rising health care prices, and hospital prices in particular, are putting Americans’ health and financial security at risk. Large health care corporations and their harmful pricing practices are helping drive historic health insurance premium increases, which are contributing to wage stagnation and income inequality and costing workers thousands of dollars in lost wages over time.

If policymakers do not take action to rein in high and rising hospital prices and the harmful business practices of large heath care corporations, low- and middle-income workers, a group that disproportionately includes people of color, could lose nearly $20,000 in wages over the next decade, according to a new analysis from Families USA.

To protect American workers’ wages from the financial impact of rising health insurance premiums, policymakers must work to advance commonsense bipartisan solutions including codifying price transparency regulations, enacting site-neutral payments, and banning anti-competitive practices and clauses in health care contracts. Now is the time to ensure the health and financial security of America’s families.