A Yale University economist contends the proposed merger of Union Health and Terre Haute Regional Hospital would not be good for consumers. Zack Cooper, an associate professor at Yale and the director of the university's Tobin Center for Economic Policy, in a news release sent Tuesday contends the merger would raise commercial health care prices of the two entities 10% to 30%, raise local insurance premiums by 3% to 10%, and lower nurses’ wages by approximately 5%.
