Hospital Cost Containment Act

Hospital Cost Containment Act - Title I: Transitional Hospital Cost Constraint Provisions - States that it is the purpose of the program established by this title to constrain the rate of increases in total acute care hospital inpatient costs. States that a hospital's average reimbursement per admission for inpatient services and a hospital's average inpatient charges per admission, in the next four accounting years, shall not exceed the hospital's base reimbursement per admission for inpatient services, or the hospital's base inpatient charges per admission by more than the percentage allowed under this Act for each year.

Sets forth formulas to be used in increasing or reducing such costs limitations to reflect changes in the cost of care and the number of admissions to a hospital in an accounting year.

Permits the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to grant an exemption from the limits established by this Act to a hospital: (1) which has increased its coverage of inpatient services; (2) which will receive less reimbursement in a particular year than that received in its base year; or (3) which has changed its capacity or the types or character of inpatient services available.

Prohibits, under the Social Security Act, the payment of hospital costs in excess of the limits established pursuant to this Act. Prohibits the receipt by any hospital, or payment by any cost payer for inpatient hospital services on a cost basis in excess of applicable limits. Subjects hospitals or cost payers in violation of these prohibitions to: (1) a Federal excise tax established by this Act; and (2) exclusion from participation in any of the programs established under the Medicaid, Medicare on Maternal and Child Health Services programs of the Social Security Act.

Allows the Secretary to exclude from cost containment provisions: (1) hospitals which meet specified criteria, at the request of the Governor of such States; and (2) hospitals engaged in certain experiments on demonstrations authorized by the Social Security Act.

Requires every hospital to submit semiannually to the appropriate health systems agency, its average semiprivate room rate and the charges for the ten other representative services most important for purposes of comparing hospitals.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to impose an excise tax on payments received for inpatient hospital services in excess of the inpatient hospital reimbursement increase limit.