There was a lot of hospital expansion, and mostly because Medicare beneficiaries were using hospital services. Patients went in overnight for cataract surgery, as an example. People sometimes stayed in the hospital for one to two years. Medicare Supplements came out, and the coverage increased finally to unlimited. In 1983, they decided hospital costs were out of control, inflation was rising, and they wanted to contain hospital costs.
Today there are more categories.
Faster discharges and outpatient treatments increased 10- fold. Ted Koppel's Nightline in 1986 covered the issue. I found it very intriguing. People didn't have a lot of resources. Nursing homes were for chronically ill people.