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Big Business.
During the 1980s health care in the United States was big business and was marked by enormous costs. From 1980 through 1989 national healthcare expenditures rose 142 percent. In 1989 the nation spent $604.3 billion on health costs compared to $250.1 billion in 1980, $74.7 billion in 1970, and $26.9 billion in 1960. Some expenses rose faster than others, but they all rose.
Hospital Costs.
The average cost of a hospital room increased more than 99 percent from 1980 to 1988, outpacing inflation. The average daily charge for a semiprivate room was $127 a day in 1980, $215 in 1985, and $253 in 1988. But the average cost to the hospital was more than the charge to the patient — $250 a day in 1980 and $501 in 1985. The most expensive state if one needed hospitalization was California at $281 a day. Mississippi cost the least at $114 a day. To cut hospital costs, many insurance companies began to insist that more surgeries...
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This section contains 909 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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