Hospitals mark up drugs three to seven times more than what Medicare charges for the same medication, a new study from Wall Street firm AllianceBernstein found.
For its study, the firm analyzed chargemasters at 34 hospital systems. They were looking specifically at a handful of outpatient drugs.
The study found academic medical centers had the highest prices and markups for both brand-name and generic drugs. In one instance, New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian marked up cancer drug Neulasta to $50,000, which is 12.5 times what Medicare charges. Other hospitals charge an average of $20,000.
Analysts also found that generic drugs often had larger markups than brand name drugs.
The study comes as patients, lawmakers and the Trump administration place heightened pressure on the industry to reduce costs.
NewYork-Presbyterian did not immediately respond to Becker's Hospital Review's request for comment.
The study was first reported by Axios.