OBJECTIVES: To compare the costs of patients admitted to an intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in Brazil's public health system in the state of Minas Gerais, with the amount paid by the federal government to the hospital unit and to evaluate the difference between the values.

METHODS: Comparison of data collected through the hospital cost system with data on federal transfers to the health establishment for patients admitted to the intensive care unit in 2020, with the aim of evaluating the costs generated in the hospital and the federal transfer to the establishment. Hospital costs were calculated according to the accounting month of posting and federal transfers according to data was sent to the ministry of health.

RESULTS: Considering the hospital admissions reported by the hospital unit to the ministry of health, 77% of the admissions did not use the intensive care resource and in 23% there was a need for ICU, with the cost of ICU admissions being US$15,703,719.74(62%) and the cost of admissions that did not use ICU being US$9,544,970.38(38%). According to the federal transfer data, the average transfer per hospitalization is U$ 1,642.48, of which U$ 729.65 refers to ICU stays and the median is U$ 1,278.84, of which U$ 418.94 refers to the ICU. Compared with the cost data calculated by the hospital using the absorption costing methodology, the average cost of patients during their stay in the ICU was U$S 2,732.94 and the median was U$S 1,912.54, surpassing the total value of hospitalizations.

CONCLUSIONS: The amount paid by the federal government, considering the median amount paid for ICU admissions, represents 22% of the real cost of the institution's ICU and considering the total amount paid, this represents only 67% of the real cost of the patient's ICU, considering only the federal transfer.