Episode 971: The Hospital Cost Crisis

Episode 971: The Hospital Cost Crisis

From Newt's World by Gingrich 360

April 25, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

Newt discusses the hospital cost crisis with Brian Blase, focusing on how government policies affect healthcare prices and competition.

Newt talks with Brian Blase, President of the Paragon Health Institute, about their new report, “The Hospital Cost Crisis: How Government Policies Drive Consolidation, Undermine Competition, and Fuel Soaring Prices.” Hospital prices have increased three times faster than inflation and more than twice as fast as worker wages since 2000, making rising hospital prices a major threat to middle-class families. Their discussion highlights that hospital care now totals about $1.6 trillion annually, roughly one-third of national health expenditures, and that large hospital systems deploy substantial lobbying resources, including over $115 million in federal lobbying in 2025 alone, to preserve favorable policies and block reforms. Blase explains how cost-based reimbursement in Medicare historically encouraged hospitals to increase costs, fueling administrative bloat and higher spending, a dynamic that still persists when higher hospital costs trigger higher government payments. He argues that Medicare’s centrally set prices and cost-based methodologies distort the entire healthcare market. Policies that pay more for the same service in a hospital than in a…

People in this episode

Host: Newt Gingrich

Guest: Brian Blase

Topics covered

  • hospital costs
  • healthcare policy
  • government regulation
  • price transparency
  • healthcare consolidation

Keywords

  • hospital costs
  • healthcare prices
  • government policies
  • Medicare
  • price transparency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Paragon Health Institute, Medicare

More episodes of Newt's World

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Newt's World podcast page.