Four health system CEOs summoned before a Congressional committee on Tuesday likely exhaled in relief early in the hearing when it became clear they had allies in the audience.
Instead of facing direct criticism, committee members largely blamed the opposing party’s healthcare policies for driving U.S. healthcare prices to levels inaccessible to many Americans.
The hearing was part of the House Ways and Means Committee’s ongoing effort to dissect the root causes of rising healthcare costs in the United States. It follows a previous session held three months ago, during which the CEOs of the country’s largest health insurers largely deflected blame onto hospitals and drugmakers.
In attendance were the CEOs of some of the nation’s largest health systems:
- HCA Healthcare (for-profit system with 190 hospitals)
- CommonSpirit Health (nonprofit system with 158 hospitals)
- New York-Presbyterian
- ECU Health (North Carolina-based, with hospitals in the state)
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