Hospitals in the United States faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and those challenges have left them floundering in the face of increased costs and workforce shortages. According to the most recent Costs of Caring report from the American Hospital Association, this combination of factors has resulted in a 17.5% increase in overall hospital expenses between 2019 and 2022. "Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that the staggering expense increases have been met with woefully inadequate increases in government reimbursement," the report states, leading to consistently negative margins and over half of hospitals ending 2022 at a financial loss. Even so, hospital expenses per inpatient day have been steadily trending upwards for years in the U.S., whether for-profit, non-profit, or state/local government. Research from KFF shows that in 1999, the average adjusted expenses per inpatient day for state/local government hospitals was $1,004. Non-profits were at $1,139, and for-profits were at $999. As of 2021, state/local government stands at $2,742—a 173% increase. Non-profits are at $3,013 (164.5%) and for-profits at $2,296 (129.8%).

Image: KFF |

Related: Where can you find the nonprofit hospitals with the highest expenses in the U.S.?

The research also shows that several states see their hospital expenses rise above the national average. There are 16 states where state/local government expenses are higher, and 20 states where nonprofits are higher than the average. For-profit hospitals fare the worst, with 25 states seeing expenses rise above the national average. The slideshow above reveals the 10 states with the highest overall hospital expenses per inpatient day. Click here to see the full report.