GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A new study by Grand Valley State University shows people in Grand Rapids pay more for health care than people in other parts of the state, including Detroit.
The study showed that patients in Grand Rapids pay, on average, $3,000 more per hospital admission than those in Detroit.
When it comes to coronary heart disease, Grand Rapids paid more than $12,000 more than what people in Detroit and even other parts of West Michigan paid.
This is the fourth year in a row the study has shown Grand Rapids outpacing the state and national rates for health costs.
There are a lot of factors in health care costs, but the authors of the study eliminated things like lack of health insurance, high labor costs and other factors. So the question is: Why?
“It’s one of three things: It’s either people in West Michigan are sicker, doctors in West Michigan perform more aggressive treatments, or that the prices charged are higher,” said Paul Isely, associate dean at GVSU's Seidman College of Business.
There is no evidence to believe people are sicker in West Michigan than anywhere else. People in Grand Rapids use emergency rooms less and are better insured than their counterparts on the east side of the state.
But a drive through the city’s Medical Mile displays the state of the art health care available here.
“All of our hospitals are pretty good — big ones, little ones, you name it — we’ve got some good ones, but we’ve got some that are very expensive,” said Lody Zwarenstyen, who has been monitoring West Michigan’s health care industry for decades.
He has a stark assessment of what is happening:
“There’s no competition,” he said. “Now, I’m not saying that competition is always good, but if you don’t have any kind of oversight, to put responsibility with that, then you have a bad situation.
“Economically, we do not have a good situation,” he added.
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