title: Medicare margins trending downward.
abstract: Data indicate U.S. short-term acute care hospitals' Medicare inpatient margins have declined from 12.8 percent to -4.6 percent over the past eight years. During the same period, these hospitals' total operating margins have remained negative. Only net income percentages for the nation's short-term acute care hospitals have remained positive during this time.
authors.affiliation: Cost Report Data Resources, LLC, Louisville, KY, USA. tschuhmann@costreportdata.com
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Schuhmann
mesh_terms: D004469:Economics, Hospital / Q000639:trends*; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States