"A critical but less mentioned driver of recent premium increases is the post-COVID surge in prices paid by commercial insurers to hospitals. Limited availability and substantial lags in hospital price data have impeded timely analysis of these trends.... [D]ata from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) ... clearly demonstrate a post-COVID hospital price increase in that state, raising questions about whether this will be a temporary shock or a 'new normal' for the health care system going forward."  MORE >>