An independent report issued last month by North Star Policy Action digs into the factors behind Minnesotans’ rapidly rising healthcare costs, warning that proposed health-system acquisitions could make things worse.

The report comes as two Minnesota-based health systems, North Memorial and Allina, are in the process of being sold to South Dakota-based Sanford and California-based Sutter, respectively.

Aaron Rosenthal, research director at the progressive research institute, said those transactions warrant public scrutiny, as they would further a trend of consolidation in the state’s healthcare industry. Twenty years ago, he said, two-thirds of Minnesota providers were independent; today two-thirds are part of a larger system.

Consolidation, he added, “decreases competition and leads to bigger players, who use their increased power to charge patients more.”

The report, “Rising Health Care Spending in Minnesota,” found that specialists in health systems charge 16-20% higher prices for services than independent practices.

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