Healthcare affordability is a recurring concern among the public and has been for many years. In the midterm elections, nearly 60% of voters reported feeling “very concerned” about healthcare costs, according to one poll. Another survey found that 47% of respondents reported experiencing “real pain from rising prices.” One often overlooked factor contributing to high healthcare costs is poor hygiene in healthcare settings. For example, a recent House Appropriations Committee report revealed that even something as simple as regularly “changing hospital curtains” could save “millions of dollars.” It’s an issue the Trump administration has prioritized to help people.
President Donald Trump said, “A healthy person has a thousand dreams. A sick person has only one (to get better)!” The Trump administration has regularly stressed the importance of preventive care. It has promoted healthy eating and exercise, revived the presidential fitness test, and introduced new dietary guidelines. In October, at the behest of first lady Melania Trump, the administration issued an executive order focused on preventive care for women. Now, the administration seeks to advance its prevention goals by revolutionizing hospital sanitation standards.
Hospital hygiene failures and a lack of compliance with basic sanitation standards contribute to the spread of healthcare-associated infections. According to a study available through the National Library of Medicine, approximately 2 million patients experience HAIs annually, including “catheter-associated urinary tract infections, bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and surgical site infections.” Annual hospital costs for HAIs range from “$28 billion to $45 billion,” putting a substantial financial burden on the healthcare system. These costs are then passed on to patients, driving up healthcare prices.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that there were 518,000 HAIs in the country’s hospitals in 2023, costing billions of dollars and posing significant risks to lives. The CDC categorized HAIs as a “serious public health threat.” But there are signs of progress that the Trump administration hopes to build on to protect people from soaring costs and the dangers of infection.
HAIs have decreased over the last decade, with studies showing a sizable decline. In 2015, the CDC reported that on any given day, 1 in 31 hospital patients had an HAI. By 2023, the figure had dropped to 1 in 38. The Trump administration wants to reduce that rate further and has a plan to do so. It starts with common-sense changes and a return to hygiene fundamentals. These changes can pay big dividends, making people healthier and lowering healthcare costs. The CDC reported that “proper prevention measures can cut HAIs by up to 70%.”
We were all taught as children to wash our hands to stop the spread of germs, and our parents emphasized the importance of good hygiene. A return to that conventional wisdom could help reduce HAIs and, in turn, healthcare costs. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that reminders and campaigns promoting handwashing, sterilization of medical equipment, and other hygiene practices can help. The agency said that “every dollar spent on infection prevention brings back $3 to $6 in savings.”
Environmental hygiene involves disinfecting “high-touch” surfaces, including privacy curtains in hospital rooms. Research has found that curtains can become contaminated and contribute to the spread of HAIs. In some areas, hospital curtains showed increased contamination in as little as three days, with most curtains showing contamination within 14 days. Another study found that 22% of the hospital privacy curtains analyzed were contaminated. Researchers found a correlation between HAIs and contaminated curtains. Basic sanitation practices and regular curtain changes could have prevented much of the contamination.
ANOTHER ELECTION, ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC DOOMSDAY THAT NEVER CAME
Consider recent studies that highlight the correlation between increased spending on infection prevention and lower HAI rates. Research published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology found that a modest 10% increase in “infection prevention budgets” led to a substantial decrease in HAI rates, which “saved millions annually.” Another study involving Australian hospitals found that investing in infection prevention and using a standardized set of cleaning practices yielded better outcomes.
The study found that an investment of 349,000 Australian dollars was associated with 147,000 Australian dollars in direct savings and 1.02 million Australian dollars in savings from prevented infections. The analysis found that the changes yielded “an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $4.84 per Quality-Adjusted Life Year gained.”
“No patient should leave the hospital sicker than when they arrived,” said Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Implementing the changes the Trump administration has proposed will help accomplish this. The House Appropriations Committee report calls for the CDC to emphasize consistent infection prevention practices in the nation’s hospitals, specifically citing curtain maintenance and regular replacement as integral to reducing HAIs. These preventive measures will make people healthier, help them leave hospitals sooner, and make healthcare more affordable.