Study: PA healthcare 'super-utilizers' cost ratio uneven

Pennsylvanians who are more frequently admitted to the hospital claim a disproportionate amount of public health money, according to a recent study by a state health cost-tracking agency. Research published earlier this month by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, or PHC4, shows patients admitted into a hospital five times or more between July 2013 and June 2014 comprised only 3 percent of total inpatient admissions. But those 3 percent ate up 14 percent, or $545 million, of all inpatient Medicare claims payments and 17 percent — or $216 million — of all inpatient Medicaid claims payments.