Hospice Benchmark

Iowa hospices with 20,000-60,000 patient days: cost per day, margin and cost shares vs 10 peers

10 freestanding hospices in Iowa with 20,000-60,000 patient days filed a usable FY2025 cost report. Their median total expenses are $190.16 per patient day (quartiles $145.20 to $202.00) against revenue of $225.42; median net margin 15.8% and 10.0% reported a loss. Salaries are 48.0% of total cost at the median, direct nursing 21.9%, administrative and general 23.6%.

Source: CMS HCRIS hospice cost report public use files (Form CMS-1984-14, public domain), FY2025 file, one latest usable report per CCN; universe = freestanding hospices with a usable Medicare cost report in the FY2025 file; fiscal years ending 2025-03-13 to 2026-06-30. Medians over hospices with plausible per-day figures (cost per day USD 40-1,000 and net margin within ±60%; the rest are counted but excluded from medians as likely reporting-unit errors). Per-day figures divide Worksheet F-2 totals by S-1 total patient days; cost shares come from Worksheet A column 7 over line 100. Data as of 2026-11-09.

Medians here (bar) vs 20,000-60,000 patient days hospices nationally (mark):

Total expenses / day
$190.16 vs $176.43
Total revenue / day
$225.42 vs $202.40
Net margin
15.8% vs 12.0%
Medicare share of days
95.7% vs 95.3%
Salaries % of cost
48.0% vs 49.5%
Nursing % of cost
21.9% vs 20.5%
Admin & general % of cost
23.6% vs 27.8%
MetricMedianNote
Hospices in the file10
With plausible per-day figures (medians below)10cost/day USD 40-1,000 and |margin| ≤ 60%
Nonprofit5
Median patient days50,603
Total revenue per patient day$225.42
Total expenses per patient day$190.16quartiles $145.20 – $202.00
Net margin15.8%quartiles 13.8% – 18.6%
Reporting a net loss10.0%
Medicare share of patient days95.7%
Routine home care share of days99.7%
Salaries % of total cost48.0%Worksheet A
RN + LPN + NP cost % of total21.9%
Hospice aide cost % of total5.0%
Administrative & general % of total cost23.6%line 4, before step-down
General service cost centres % of total49.8%lines 1-16
Pharmacy + drugs per patient day$7.52

Where your hospice sits

Type your CCN or name: your figures against these 10 Iowa hospices, free, in your browser (the CCN is never sent to us). The USD 99 report then names the 10 closest.

The paid report

USD 99, one time: a Iowa hospice with 20,000-60,000 patient days vs the 10 closest named freestanding hospices (same state and patient-day band, nearest by days; census region or national pool stated when the state has fewer than 10): revenue and cost per patient day, net margin, Medicare and Medicaid day share, level-of-care mix, salary / nursing / aide / administrative / general-service shares of cost, drugs and DME per day, advertising share, each with your percentile in the full pool, and a Care Compare link per peer. Emailed within 1 business day. One free re-run within 14 days if a peer does not fit.

Get the report — USD 99 With 5-year trend — USD 149

USD 149 adds the five-year trend page: your hospice each cost-report year FY2020-2025 against that year's state median in your band, plus the Care Compare listing details. Full refund if no peer group can be formed. See the real sample.

20,000-60,000 patient days in other states

Alabama (30) · Arizona (41) · Arkansas (16) · California (145) · Florida (11) · Georgia (54) · Idaho (10) · Illinois (26) · Indiana (40) · Kansas (17) · Louisiana (41) · Massachusetts (23) · Michigan (51) · Mississippi (30) · Missouri (40) · Nebraska (14) · Nevada (15) · New Jersey (24) · New Mexico (12) · New York (11) · North Carolina (14) · Ohio (53) · Oklahoma (47) · Oregon (20) · Pennsylvania (49) · Puerto Rico (10) · South Carolina (26) · Tennessee (17) · Texas (205) · Utah (17) · Virginia (30) · Washington (12) · Wisconsin (22)

Other bands in Iowa

5,000-20,000 patient days (14)