High hospital prices are a leading driver of high and rising costs in the U.S. health care system, resulting in insurance premium growth that outpaces the growth in wages and inflation. In particular, the cost of hospital care accounts for one-third of all U.S. health care expenditures. On average, hospitals command prices in the commercial market that are more than twice as high as Medicare, with some hospitals charging three or four times as much. High hospital prices have been fueled by a number of factors, including increasing market consolidation and “must-have” hospitals flexing their market power to negotiate significantly higher prices from commercial insurers.