Bar chart showing that prices paid by employer health care plans at three hospitals in Monterey County were substantially higher than those at the median California hospital and the median Bay Area hospital.

Chart 1: Prices paid by employer plans for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, relative to Medicare prices, 2018-2020

Chart: UC Berkeley Labor CenterSource: Christopher M. Whaley et al. (RAND), Prices Paid to Hospitals by Private Health Plans, Findings from Round 4 of an Employer-Led Transparency Initiative, 2022. The relative price reflects the allowed amount paid by the private insurer divided by the Medicare-allowed amount for the same services provided by the same hospital. Get the dataEmbedDownload imageCreated with Datawrapper