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Does managed competition constrain hospitals' contract prices? Evidence from the Netherlands

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  • Douven, Rudy
  • Burger, Monique
  • Schut, Frederik

Abstract

In the Dutch health care system, health insurers negotiate with hospitals about the pricing of hospital products in a managed competition framework. In this paper, we study these contract prices that became for the first time publicly available in 2016. The data show substantive price variation between hospitals for the same products, and within a hospital for the same product across insurers. About 27% of the contract prices for a hospital product are at least 20% higher or lower than the average contract price in the market. For about half of the products, the highest and the lowest contract prices across hospitals differ by a factor of three or more. Moreover, hospital product prices do not follow a consistent ranking across hospitals, suggesting substantial cross-subsidization between hospital products. Potential explanations for the large and seemingly random price variation are: (i) different cost pricing methods used by hospitals, (ii) uncertainty due to frequent changes in the hospital payment system, (iii) price adjustments related to negotiated lumpsum payments and (iv) differences in hospital and insurer market power. Several policy options are discussed to reduce variation and increase transparency of hospital prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Douven, Rudy & Burger, Monique & Schut, Frederik, 2020. "Does managed competition constrain hospitals' contract prices? Evidence from the Netherlands," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 341-354, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:hecopl:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:341-354_4
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Chris Sampson’s journal round-up for 6th July 2020
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2020-07-06 11:00:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Moura, Ana, 2021. "Essays in health economics," Other publications TiSEM c93abd22-fa4a-42a5-b172-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Peter Dohmen & Martin Ineveld & Aniek Markus & Liana Hagen & Joris Klundert, 2023. "Does competition improve hospital performance: a DEA based evaluation from the Netherlands," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(6), pages 999-1017, August.
    3. Chiara Brouns & Rudy Douven & Ron Kemp, 2021. "Prices and market power in mental health care: Evidence from a major policy change in the Netherlands," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 803-819, April.
    4. Sandra Sülz & Holger Wagenaar & Joris van de Klundert, 2021. "Have Dutch Hospitals Saved Lives and Reduced Costs? A longitudinal patient‐level analysis over the years 2013–2017," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2399-2408, September.
    5. Chandeni S. Gajadien & Peter J. G. Dohmen & Frank Eijkenaar & Frederik T. Schut & Erik M. Raaij & Richard Heijink, 2023. "Financial risk allocation and provider incentives in hospital–insurer contracts in The Netherlands," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(1), pages 125-138, February.

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