The Big Squeeze: Inflation and O&P

We have all been feeling the squeeze of inflation lately. It seems like each month this year inflation was higher than analysts expected.¹ Essential expenses are taking more of our income. We can assign this phenomenon to a variety of factors, but the result is the same: Inflation is taking a hit on our businesses, professions, and personal lives. Remember that inflation only means prices are going up; zero percent inflation means prices are staying the same, and deflation is a decrease in prices. When inflation goes from 9.1 percent in June to 8.2 percent in September, it still means that prices are higher year over year, just not increasing as fast.

My conversations with other O&P providers have frequently turned to how we can increase reimbursement to meet rising costs. Business owners are looking to boost compensation from private insurance companies. Similarly, I have been part of several discussion threads on the OANDP-L listserv that revolve around decreasing reimbursement and/or increasing costs. The frequency of these emails is increasing as O&P providers feel the squeeze of rising costs. We all feel the pinch but may attribute it to different things, such as more audits, less time to get things done, more regulation, or rising costs, but in the end, we are struggling with our dollars and hours not stretching as far as they used to.