Even higher than the last couple of years. When we sat down with the Blues and Preferred Care and broke down the increase,both pointed the finger at a familiar source. The prescription drug ailment in this community is one that is bigger than just Rochester, New York. It's bigger than just Blue Cross in Rochester. Yet none of the pharmaceutical companies listed in the Rochester yellow pages would talk to us about the problem on camera.
Hospitals account for the second largest slice of the health insurance carriers' rate hike.
And as those also have been trending upwards, and the cost of each. And while you would have expected that dramatic increase that is now done on an outpatient basis would reduce hospital admissions. In fact, after several years of being flat, hospital admissions actually went up last year. The health insurance providers we talked to said only about six percent of the increase covers their expenses. Both admit, something has to change.