Read it!

During last year’s negotiation impasse between PeaceHealth and Regence insurance, data from the Hospital Evaluation and Comparison System showed PeaceHealth charged Regence members 27 percent more for care than at similar facilities in Washington. Regence negotiates the lowest rates out of all the insurers in the area, so residents with other insurance companies paid even more for PeaceHealth services. The impasse was resolved, but PeaceHealth most likely continues to be one of the most expensive hospitals of its kind in Washington, owing much to market dominance.

Studies support the observation that hospital consolidation usually results in price increases. The only solutions I know to reverse hospital monopolies and stop mergers are:
- Petition the state insurance commissioner (though, they rarely act to control health care costs)
- Encourage county residents, businesses, and organizations to “Buy Local” from independent medical providers. This will help competing providers stay solvent, and typically they have less expensive services.

In addition, PeaceHealth needs to start taking many strong actions on their own to contain costs so that citizens can afford to have medical care.

Regarding sleep apnea, as noted in the post, there is \limited data that treatments routinely used by sleep apnea centers have a positive affect on outcome. There is evidence for example, that CPAP use is not continued in the majority of patients. That does not preclude the positive effects of weight loss on sleep apnea and also on blood sugar levels. These latter effects however are not the prime interventions of the commercialized sleep apnea centers, which appear more to be pushing procedures and equipment of questionable efficacy.

I’m not sure to which post you are regarding HCC treatment. In any case, I certainly agree that expensive treatments yielding a few months survival are of dubious value.