As the population ages and requires more health care hospital costs could reach well into the trillions in 2008.
Hospital charges in the U.S. increased by approximately 90% in the last decade according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, entitled "The National Hospital Bill:Growth Trends and 2005 Update on the Most Expensive Conditions by Payer." The average yearly growth was 4.5%.
The report covers the time period between 1997 and 2005 and was been adjusted for inflation. In 1997, hospital bills totaled $462 billion and by 2005, that total had reached $873 billion.
This data includes physician fees and fees for those treated in emergency rooms who were not admitted. It was derived from hospitals throughout the U.S. which were responsible for 90% of the discharges. It includes insured patients, uninsured patients and those covered by workers' compensation.
Medicare, the primary payer, spent $411 billion during this frame for 39 million hospital stays. Private insurance paid out $272 billion and Medicaid $124 billion. Uninsured patients cost hospitals $38 billion.
The most costly conditions which accounted for one-fifth of all hospital charges were:
- coronary-artery disease
- pregnancy and delivery
- newborn-infant care
- heart attacks
- congestive heart failure
The cost of care for strokes increased by 51% while the cost for coronary heart disease increased by 44%. By these figures, the study estimates that hospital costs for these two conditions alone could cost over $1 trillion in 2008.
Resources:
Bloomberg/Orlando Sentinel, 12/13/2007
