JAMA Study: Costs and Inpatient Stays Decline for Medicare Beneficiaries
Mortality and hospitalization rates and inpatient spending for Medicare patients 65 and older declined between 1999 and 2013. A Journal of the American Medical Association study found that the annual death rate from all causes declined to 4.5 percent from 5.3 percent, and the number of hospitalizations in the last six months of life dropped to 103 from 131 per 100 deaths. Inpatient spending per fee-for-service beneficiary declined to $2,801 from $3,290.