Op-ed contributor

Finger-pointing makes headlines, but it won’t fix Michigan’s health care challenges. Rising costs are real for families and employers — and for hospitals, too. What’s not real is the claim that hospitals are driving those costs with unnecessary or ineffective care . That narrative misunderstands the complexities pushing spending higher, and risks harming patients by undermining the very providers keeping emergency rooms, trauma centers and maternity units open.

Let’s start with what hospitals can’t control.

Drug spending surged in 2024 , driven by several high-cost medicines in oncology, diabetes and autoimmune disease, the PwC Health Research Institute found. At the same time, labor — the people who staff intensive care units, operating rooms and emergency departme

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