U.S. hospitals charged $873 billion in 2005 — a nearly 90 percent increase from the $462 billion charged in 1997 — according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The inflation-adjusted 2005 bill represents the amount charged for 39 million hospital stays.
With an average annual growth rate in hospital charges of 4.5 percent, researchers predict the bill will reach $1 trillion by 2008.
AHRQ also found:
-Medicare paid $411 billion of the national bill, followed by private insurance ($272 billion) and Medicaid ($124 billion).
-The uninsured accounted for $38 billion.
This is taken from the AHRQ report:
|
Table 1. Top 20 most expensive conditions treated in U.S. hospitals, 2005 |
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|
Rank |
Principal diagnosis |
Total national hospital bill (millions) |
Percentage of national hospital bill |
Number of hospital stays (thousands) |
|
1 |
Coronary artery disease |
$45,985 |
5.3% |
1,110 |
|
2 |
Mother’s pregnancy and delivery |
$43,925 |
5.0% |
4,712 |
|
3 |
Newborn infants |
$35,316 |
4.0% |
4,429 |
|
4 |
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI, heart attack) |
$31,946 |
3.7% |
662 |
|
5 |
Congestive heart failure (CHF) |
$30,230 |
3.5% |
1,090 |
|
6 |
Pneumonia |
$29,535 |
3.4% |
1,355 |
|
7 |
Osteoarthritis |
$26,157 |
3.0% |
738 |
|
8 |
Complication of device, implant or graft |
$25,291 |
2.9% |
616 |
|
9 |
Sepsis |
$24,801 |
2.8% |
538 |
|
10 |
Back pain (spondylosis, intervertebral disc disorders, other back problems) |
$20,327 |
2.3% |
647 |
|
11 |
Respiratory failure, insufficiency, arrest (adult) |
$19,723 |
2.3% |
336 |
|
12 |
Cardiac dysrhythmias |
$17,224 |
2.0% |
697 |
|
13 |
Acute cerebrovascular disease (stroke) |
$17,060 |
2.0% |
526 |
|
14 |
Rehabilitation care, fitting of prostheses, and adjustment of devices |
$13,848 |
1.6% |
517 |
|
15 |
Complications of surgical procedures or medical care |
$13,316 |
1.5% |
463 |
|
16 |
Gall bladder disease |
$11,719 |
1.3% |
456 |
|
17 |
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) |
$11,506 |
1.3% |
630 |
|
18 |
Diabetes mellitus with complications |
$11,171 |
1.3% |
491 |
|
19 |
Hip fracture |
$10,869 |
1.2% |
317 |
|
20 |
Nonspecific chest pain |
$10,027 |
1.1% |
825 |
|
Total for top 20 conditions |
$449,976 |
51.5% |
21,155 |
|
|
Total for all hospitalizations |
$873,236 |
100.0% |
39,164 |
|
|
Source: AHRQ, Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Nationwide Inpatient Sample, 2005. |
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For more health and medical news and commentary, read The Medicine Bag blog at http://blog.newsok.com/health.
Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer
January 7th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
There are new medicare plans for 2008. I would strongly recommend reviewing your current plan each year as there are sometimes dramatic differences. If you think outside the box you will find some great health plans. The big companies such as Blue Cross will charge whatever they want because they assume people will just go with the name and they spend a ton of money on advertising which reflects in the premiums and benefits. If you look at some other companies you may be pleasantly surprised with the benefits you will find.