For most of the 1800s, hospitals had been a place where the chronically ill and indigent received charitable care because they had no family capable of shouldering the burden. Those who could afford it received care at home. But as the importance of asepsis began to be appreciated, surgical and acute care patients were more likely to be treated in hospitals designed to facilitate antiseptic conditions. Hospitals began charging for the use of their facilities. During the transition, medical bills began absorbing significant amounts of family income. Hospital costs rose from of total family medical bills in 1918, to 13% in 1929. 6 According to the.
