Assignment task:
Provide thoughtful responses to clarify or support your peer's discussion. Implement a different viewpoint from your own than compare and contrast. Need Assignment Help?
Peer 1: Cost-shifting may have a major effect on the delivery of healthcare services to many individuals. When reviewing cost-shifting, it may have an ability to impact the efficiency and effectiveness of health care provision. Health care organizations may charge different payers' different rates for the same service even when they are providing the same service to the individuals. Frakt (2011) explains that cost shifting may imply insurance companies may not want to change their higher premiums and hospitals may prefer higher prices for the services they may provide. There may be various viewpoints on the issue of cost-shifting and it can be vital to understand how it may impact he delivery of healthcare services. Some issues that may arise can be identified as due to cost-shifting may health care organizations may seek higher reimbursement amounts from their payers such as private insures, some services may not by covered through the insures, and many more.
Peer 2: There are several factors why hospitals would not obtain rates that maximized their revenue in the past. Hospitals operate in competitive markets where negotiating power varies (Ginsberg, 2023). Hospitals may face significant competition in some regions, limiting their ability to demand higher rates from private payers without risking losing patients to competitors (Ginsberg, 2023). Also, hospitals often have long-term contracts with private insurers that set payment rates. These contracts may be challenging, and hospitals must wait for the renewal period to adjust rates. Hospitals may be cautious about increasing rates due to uncertainty in healthcare policy and economic conditions. Hospitals might wait to see how public payer policies evolve before significantly changing their pricing strategies.