The High Cost of Good Health

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Business. During the 1980s health care in the United States was big business and was marked by enormous costs. From 1980 through 1989 national health-care 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, out-pacing 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...

[The entire page is 1855 words long]

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