U.S. hospitals charged $873 billion in 2005--a nearly 90 percent increase from the $462 billion charged in 1997--according to the most recent News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The average yearly rate of increase over the past several years in the national hospital bill was 4.5 percent. At this rate, researchers estimate that the annual national hospital bill may reach $1 trillion by 2008.
Among other facts, the AHRQ study also found that one fifth of the national hospital bill was for treatment of just five conditions--coronary artery disease ($46 billion), pregnancy and childbirth ($44 billion), newborn infant care ($35 billion), heart attack ($32 billion), and congestive heart failure ($30 billion).
This information is based on data included in the December 2007 AHRQ statistical brief The National Hospital Bill: Growth Trends and 2005 Update on the Most Expensive Conditions by Payer. The report uses statistics from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays that is nationally representative of inpatient stays in all short-term, non-Federal hospitals. The data are drawn from hospitals that comprise 90 percent of all discharges in the United States and include all patients, regardless of insurance type, as well as the uninsured. Access the brief.
