Inflation and health care costs in metropolitan areas.

This paper reports on an examination of the relationship between increases in health care costs in 23 Standard Metropolitan Statistical areas and various other changes in these communities over the period 1969-1977. The other changes examined consisted of 145 variables divided into 7 categories. The categories were termed demographic, economic, community illness, prices of other goods and services, hospital, physician, and technology factors. The results show that there was little relationship between rates of medical and hospital inflation and the examined variables. Total hospital costs could be related to several of the factors, the most important of which were demographic, economic, and hospital factors.