Half of All Urban Hospital Markets Controlled by Only 1 or 2 Health Systems: Report

Hospital care accounted for nearly one-third of health expenses in 2024, and grew faster than overall health expenditures.

A hospital in the city of Irvine, Calif., on July 8, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

One or two health systems controlled the entire market for inpatient care in nearly half of U.S. metropolitan areas in 2024, marking a sharp intensification of hospital consolidation over the past decade.

Nearly 80 percent of hospital markets in metropolitan areas became less competitive from 2015 to 2024 or were controlled by one health system over that entire period, according to a March analysis by the health care analytics group KFF.