Frakt, A. (2010). “How Much do Hospitals Cost Shift? A Review of the Evidence.” Health Care Financing & Economics. Retrieved from http://www.hcfe.research.va.gov/docs/wp_2011_01.pdf.

This paper reviews the current literature regarding cost shifting in hospitals to come to the conclusions that “(p)olicymakers should take hospital and insurance industry claims of inevitable, large scale cost shifting with a grain of salt. Though a modest degree of cost shifting may result from changes in public payment policy, it is just one of many possible effects. Moreover, changes in the balance of market power between hospitals and health care plans also have a significant impact on private prices. Since they may increase hospital market power, provisions of the new health reform law that may encourage greater provider integration and consolidation should be implemented with caution.”