EP390: What Legislators Need to Know About Hospital Prices, With Gloria Sachdev, PharmD, and Chris Skisak, PhD

What Legislators Need to Know About Hospital Prices, With Gloria Sachdev, PharmD, and Chris Skisak, PhD (EP390)

Why Hospital Balance Sheets Are Often as Much PR Campaign as Financial Statement. Episode 390.

Stacey Richter talks with Gloria Sachdev, PharmD, of the Employers' Forum of Indiana, and Chris Skisak, PhD, of the Houston Business Coalition on Health, about what legislators need to understand about hospital pricing—and how the Sage Transparency dashboard reveals which hospitals are operating on thin margins versus padding their balance sheets.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✅ Why some hospital financial statements dress up healthy margins as financial distress

✅ How the Sage Transparency dashboard shows what a hospital actually needs to charge to break even

✅ Why nearly half of patients deferred care due to cost in 2022, even those with "good" insurance

✅ What legislative strategies employer coalitions are pursuing to bring rigor back to hospital pricing

✅ Why physician independence matters to a functioning, competitive healthcare market

✅ How employers becoming present in the legislative process can shift the balance of power

WHY THIS MATTERS

Legislators often take hospital financial-distress claims at face value, but Sachdev and Skisak's coalition-building work shows the data tells a different story for many systems. Transparency tools like Sage give employers, policymakers, and communities the leverage to distinguish real financial hardship from a well-dressed PR campaign.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

EP334 with Sunita Desai, PhD: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

EP373 with Cora Opsahl: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

EP385 with Dan Mendelson: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

EP379 with AJ Loiacono: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

=== LINKS ===

🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: Episode Page

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00:00 Introduction.

06:04 How could the healthcare market correct itself?

08:27 EP334 with Sunita Desai, PhD.

09:38 What strategies are needed to make changes in the healthcare market?

10:13 What can be done with respect to market forces?

12:33 What needs to happen in regard to healthcare legislation?

13:03 Gloria's ideas for legislation.

15:44 Why is it important to allow physicians to be independent again?

17:41 EP373 with Cora Opsahl.

18:21 Chris's thoughts on legislation.

22:51 Why is it important that employers become present in the legislative process?

26:48 What has been immensely helpful to better understand hospital financials?

31:08 EP385 with Dan Mendelson.

31:16 EP379 with AJ Loiacono.

32:11 Why is transparency foundational for healthcare market change?