In that same eight-year time span, hospital charity care costs and bad debts increased by 116 percent, from $169 million in 2003 to $365 million in 2010. Other highlights of the study include the following:
• The average southeast Wisconsin hospital commercial payment levels rose approximately 34 percent from 2003 to 2010.
• Hospital operating costs increased 17 percent from 2003 to 2010. This was lower than the increases to the Hospital Producer Price Index (28 percent) and the CMS Hospital Market Basket (37 percent) for the same time period.
• Overall market concentration of commercial insurers in southeast Wisconsin declined since 2007, suggesting that there was more competition among health systems.
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