St. Luke’s merger with a St. Louis hospital system could mean bigger medical bills in Kansas City

Takeaways: Kansas City-based St. Luke’s Health System completed its merger with St. Louis-based BJC Health System this month. The merger falls in line with a national trend of hospital system mergers driven in part by the need to negotiate with large insurers. Research shows hospital system mergers tend to lead to higher costs (and executive salaries) and less charity care. In…