Hospitals will account for an estimated 33 percent, or $1.3 trillion, of U.S. healthcare expenditures in 2019, according to the Health Industry Distributors Association's 2019 Hospitals & Health Systems Market Report.
Four more key insights:
1. In 2019, Medicare and private health insurance are expected to account for 25 percent and 39 percent of for-profit hospitals' payer mix, respectively.
2. Medicare's portion of the hospital payer mix is projected to rise by 4 percent by 2028, while private payers' share will drop 2 percent.
3. In 2018, an estimated 44 percent of U.S. physicians were hospital-employed, up from 41.7 percent in 2016 and 26 percent in 2012.
4. In 2018, for-profit hospitals had an estimated median operating margin of 1.8 percent, which is lower than the 2.5 percent that is considered healthy.