Lu Y, Wang Y, Spatz ES, et al. - From 1999 to 2019, a substantial and significant increase in the hospitalization rates for acute hypertension has been observed among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries age 65 years or older. Also, national variation was significant; the South generally showed the highest rates.

• In the US, no improvement in hypertension control has been seen over the past 2 decades, and widening disparities have been reported.

• In this serial cross-sectional analysis of 397,238 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries age 65 years or older, the trends in national hospitalization rates for acute hypertension were analyzed from 1999 through 2019.

• From 1999 to 2019, the hospitalization rate for acute hypertension rose more than double among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries (age 65 years or older).

• During the same time period, widening of racial and ethnic disparities in hospitalizations for acute hypertension was evident, with Black adults exhibiting the highest hospitalization rate in 2019 across age, gender, race and ethnicity, and dual-eligible strata.

• Improved rates of 30-day and 90-day mortality and readmission were also documented among beneficiaries hospitalized for acute hypertension, from 1999 to 2019.