Description
For all persons, HPFCHT captures the sum of fully established charges for facility charges for inpatient hospital visits during the year, excluding those for prescribed medicines. Hospital facility expenses include direct hospital care, including room and board; diagnostic and laboratory work; x-rays and similar charges; as well as any physician services included in the hospital charge. This variable does not usually reflect actual payments made for services, which can be substantially lower due to factors such as negotiated discounts, bad debt, and free care. For more information on how MEPS collects expenditure and charge data, please refer to our user note on medical expenditures.
Related variables
Variables related to total annual health care charges by source of payment, total annual health care charges by type of medical service, and analogous information for health care expenditures are also available. Please refer to our user note on medical expenditures for a list of these variables.
