Growth in Medicare Expenditures for Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

JAMA: September 23, 2013

A Comparison of 1998 Through 1999 and 2008

Importance  Medicare expenditures continue to grow rapidly, but the reasons are uncertain.

Objective  To compare expenditures from 1998 through 1999 and 2008 for Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Design, Setting, and Participants  Cross-sectional analysis of a random 20% sample of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries admitted with AMI from 1998 through 1999 (n = 105 074) and a 100% sample for 2008 (n = 212 329).

Main Outcomes and Measures  Per-beneficiary expenditures, standardized for price and adjusted for risk and inflation. Expenditures were measured across 4 periods: overall (index admission to 1 year), index (within the index admission), early (postindex admission to 30 days), and late (31-365 days). Read more