State Variations in Hospital Expenditures: An Ecological Approach

Hospital expenditures vary across states both in terms of the levels and growth rates. Economic status, insurance coverage (or lack thereof), health risk factors, and demographic factors are used to explain these differences. Interestingly, the prevalence of poverty rates across states does not seem to be a good predictor of differences in hospital expenditures but the percent without health insurance does relate to higher hospital expenditures, when the factors listed above are all considered. Policy discussions about universal health insurance may be missing a point if better health care coverage resulted in lower hospital costs.

Anthony E. BoppEmail: