Medicare's Hospital Bill

AHRQ News and Numbers

Release date: November 16, 2005

Medicare's hospital bill for the inpatient care of its beneficiaries totaled roughly $327 billion in 2003, according to the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The following 10 conditions accounted for 41 percent of the total amount charged Medicare:

• Coronary atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)—$24 billion.
• Congestive heart failure—$18.3 billion.
• Heart attack—$17.3 billion.
• Pneumonia—$15 billion.
• Complication of device, implant or graft—$12 billion.
• Irregular heart beat—$10.8 billion.
• Osteoarthritis—$10.7 billion.
• Stroke—$9.2 billion.
• Septicemia—$7.9 billion.
• Hip fracture—$7.2 billion.

These are the amounts that hospitals charged for the entire stays of Medicare patients. The amounts do not include physician fees and charges do not necessarily reflect what hospitals were reimbursed.

Internet Citation:

Medicare's Hospital Bill. AHRQ News and Numbers, November 16, 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/nn/nn111605.htm