AHRQ Stats: Private Insurance vs. Medicaid for Hospital Payments

Medicaid was the primary payer for 54 percent of hospitalizations for patients younger than 18 (excluding hospitalizations for pregnancies and newborns) in 2015. That represented a sizeable increase from 2000, when Medicaid paid for 39 percent of hospitalizations in that category. (Source: AHRQ, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #235: Trends in Hospital Inpatient Stays by Age and Payer, 2000-2015.)

January 2018

Trends in Hospital Inpatient Stays by Age and Payer, 2000-2015

Ruirui Sun, Ph.D., Zeynal Karaca, Ph.D., and Herbert S. Wong, Ph.D.

Highlights

Between 2000 and 2015, the population rate of nonneonatal, nonmaternal inpatient stays dropped for all age groups; the largest percentage decrease (25 percent) was among patients aged 65 years and over.

Between 2000 and 2015, for all age groups under 65 years old the share of uninsured stays reached its 16-year low in 2015.

From 2007 to 2015, Medicaid was the top primary payer for patients under age 18 years with nonneonatal, nonmaternal inpatient stays; its share exceeded 50 percent starting in 2012.

From 2000 to 2015, the share of Medicaid among nonneonatal, nonmaternal inpatient stays for those aged 18-44 years and 45-64 years increased by 74 percent and 68 percent, respectively.