United States to Reach $1 Trillion Hospital Bill
In 2005 all hospitals in the
In average the yearly increase in the national hospital bill was around 4.5%. If this rate is maintained, researchers presume that in 2008 the bill may reach a huge sum of $1 trillion.
The report from AHRQ also provided the following data:
- Medicare gave
away $411 billion of the national hospital bill, then goes private insurance with $272 billion and finally Medicaid with $124 billion. Uninsured
hospital charged $38 billion. The rest, which accounts $28 billion, was for
other insurers, such as Workers'
Compensation, TRICARE, as well
as Title V and other programs
monitored by the government.
- 1/5th of the national hospital bill went for
the cure of 5 major conditions. $46 billion went for treating coronary artery
disease, $44 billion for pregnancy and childbirth, $35 billion was charged for newborn
infant care, $32 billion for curing heart attack, and $30 billion was spent for
treating congestive heart failure.
- The growth of other 10 conditions was much higher
than the average of all hospital stays. Below there's the percentage growth of
the 10 other major conditions:
- Sepsis – 189 %
- Chest pain – 181 %
- Respiratory failure - 171 %
- Back pain - 170 %
- Osteoarthritis - 165 %
- Irregular heart beat - 131 %
- Procedure complications- 120 %
- Congestive heart failure - 117 %
- Medical device complications - 113 %
- Diabetes - 97 %
The above provided data is based on information from
the National Hospital Bill: Growth
Trends and 2005 Update on the Most Expensive Conditions by Payer. AHRQ News and Numbers reports shows
statistics provided by the Nationwide
Inpatient Sample, which is a one of a kind and very powerful database of
hospital inpatient stays. All figures represent hospitals that include 90 % of
all discharges in the