US hospitals see post pandemic catch-up behind insurer healthcare costs
By Sriparna Roy and Bhanvi Satija
(Reuters) — Americans are catching up on healthcare missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend driven by heart procedures and outpatient orthopedic surgeries that likely won't soon slow, according to interviews with three hospital officials in major U.S. cities, but other factors may also be at play.
U.S. health insurers have warned of high demand for medical services based on late 2023 usage, but have offered few details on the trend or how long it may continue driving up costs.
These hospitals, while a small subset of the thousands of facilities in the United States, provide some on the ground insight into what is behind the recent warnings and what may be in store going forward.
Insurers Humana (NYSE:HUM) and CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) said they were not sure how long the trend would last, while others such as Elevance and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) have said they priced in elevated medical costs in 2024.
«I think the question that we're trying to figure out from an investor perspective is the duration of the trend,» said Deutsche Bank analyst George Hill. «It's going to hit insurers in '24 but the question is, will it hit insurers beyond '24?»
Worries that cost increases could continue beyond 2024 are a likely factor in falling shares in the sector in recent weeks. A broader index of managed care providers has declined 1.03% after falling 3% in 2023.
Officials from the three hospitals — Providence health system headquartered in Renton, Washington, and Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Tufts Medical Center — said the post pandemic «catch-up» trend is occurring across all age groups.
«We have seen an increase in oncologic care or cancer care and we also have seen an increase in
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