(Reuters) - Seven hospital systems in New Jersey and Pennsylvania will form what executives say will be the largest U.S. healthcare alliance in the country. The number of hospital mergers has soared in the past several years as providers band together to increase their power to negotiate higher reimbursement rates from insurers. Called AllSpire Health Partners, the alliance will allow the member institutions to save on costs and share medical expertise, the hospital systems said on Thursday. The alliance is part of a trend towards market consolidation as the Affordable Care Act is pushing hospitals to achieve greater negotiating leverage, said Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University.
