Wisconsin Found Costliest for Physician Services

From AOL News

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said Thursday that action must be taken quickly after a report found eight of the 10 priciest U.S. cities for physician services - relative to local rents and wages - were in Wisconsin.

The report released this week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed La Crosse topped a list of 319 U.S. metro areas in relative physician prices at 48 percent above the average, followed by Wausau at 46 percent, Eau Claire at 42 percent and Madison at 41 percent.

"I think this serves as a wakeup call to Wisconsin policymakers and consumers," Ryan said. "We have an emergency situation with regard to health care costs and we need to act quickly."

The study said higher prices generally resulted from weak competition - more beds controlled by few health care providers - and the lack of ability of Health Maintenance Organizations to pay doctors flat fees, which tend to control costs.