ST. PETERSBURG On the edge of downtown, a three-story building is rising that symbolizes where health care is heading.

When the scaffolding comes down later this year, one of the area's biggest physician groups, Suncoast Medical Clinic, will move into a new home built by the area's biggest hospital group, BayCare.

The 50 or so doctors working at Suncoast are just a fraction of the 800-plus who have recently aligned with BayCare, which this year announced expansion plans with hospitals in Polk and Sarasota counties.

Bigger is thought to be better in these days of health care consolidations and partnerships. Size brings the bargaining power and the range of patient services needed to drive down costs and to better coordinate care, improving quality.

So goes the mantra uttered time and time again as hospitals and physician practices that once operated independently seek the protection of deep-pocketed partners.

But whether this trend will translate into lower costs particularly for patients is theoretical at best, experts say.

"Have you ever seen costs go down in health care? Anywhere? For anything?" said Glenn Melnick, a health economist at the nonpartisan RAND Corp.

The University of Southern California professor added, laughing, "Not that I'm cynical or anything."

The research is clear, experts say hospital mergers and consolidations historically have led to higher prices, no matter the rosy promises to the contrary. There's little evidence that quality improves, either.

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As health care companies expand, promised cost savings in doubt