The hospital index represented some of the steepest growth among all healthcare services for the commercially insured in 2011. Comparatively, physician and drug costs each increased by 2.3 percent year-over-year.
“Insurance costs are still on the rise,” said Gary Pickens, chief research officer at the Thomson Reuters Center for Healthcare Analytics, in the release. “Hikes in all of the key areas would seem to imply the country has yet to reach a lull in spending.”
Overall, the annual cost of healthcare for the commercially insured climbed 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010.
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