The Maryland commission that sets hospital rates was formed in the 1970s to keep costs down and provide a stable financial environment for health care providers.
The commission dictates how much hospitals can charge patients for certain services, regardless of what kind of insurance they have or whether they have insurance at all. Maryland is the only state in the country that sets its own hospital rates.
But some hospitals complain it limits profit margins to an unsustainable level.
The cost of an admission in Maryland hospitals was 26 percent above the national average when the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission was formed. Over the next four decades, Maryland hospitals experienced the lowest cumulative growth in cost per admission in the country, according to figures from the American Hospital Association that were cited in a commission report.
The commission recently voted to reduce inpatient rates by 1 percent and raise rates for outpatient services by 2.59 percent, giving hospitals an overall rate increase of 0.3 percent. The rates, which take effect July 1, mean Marylanders will see no substantial increases in their hospital bills next year.
