In a survey of 200 healthcare industry experts, 82% said they expect tariff-related import expenses to increase hospital and health system costs by 15% in the next six months.
Black Book Market Research, a healthcare research and analysis firm, conducted the survey in late January — about a month before the U.S. enacted 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on items from China.
China is the world’s largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, and the U.S. heavily relies on this supply, according to an FDA report. Due to the tariffs on Chinese imports, nearly 70% of survey respondents predicted at least a 10% increase in pharmaceutical costs.
Here are key findings from Black Book Market’s survey:
Hospital executives
- Ninety percent of healthcare supply chain professionals anticipate major disruptions in procurement processes and contract negotiations with suppliers.
- Ninety percent of surveyed hospital finance leaders said they will need to shift increased costs onto payers and patients through higher service charges.
- Ninety-four percent of healthcare administrators said they foresee buying less equipment or delaying upgrades to mitigate financial strain.
Medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers
- Eighty-one percent of medical equipment manufacturers predict longer lead times and supply shortages due to higher production costs and import restrictions.
- Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents said they are seeking alternative suppliers to offset tariff-related cost increases, but 92% of drugmakers said switching suppliers could cause regulatory delays and supply disruptions.
Health IT
- Ninety-one percent of provider IT leaders expect postponed digital transformation projects as budgets shift to cover increased operational costs.
- Thirty-nine percent of healthcare IT executives said they think the tariffs will increase costs for software licensing, cloud computing and managed services.
- Sixteen percent of healthcare IT vendors predict an increase in the cost of essential hardware, including servers, networking equipment and medical IT devices, affecting prices and service delivery timelines.
Payers
- Eighty-four percent of payers expect higher claims costs due to increased pricing on medical treatments and drugs.
- Forty-eight percent of payer executives said they think insurance premiums will increase within the next year due to increased supply chain expenses.
The survey respondents spanned hospital finance and supply chain executives, payers, patients, health market customers, pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturers, and physicians and ancillary practice administrators.
