See update at https://aharesourcecenter.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/aca-insurance-expansion-and-uncompensated-hospital-care-costs/
A new federal report examines the impact so far of health reform’s expanded health care coverage on uncompensated costs incurred by hospitals. With an estimated 8 million increase in the number of people covered by Medicaid and a 10.3 million decrease in the uninsured population, hospitals may lower their overall uncompensated costs by $5.7 billion (16%) this year.
Other key findings include:
- Volumes of uninsured/self-pay hospital admissions and emergency visits have fallen significantly, especially in Medicaid expansion states.
- The number of hospital admissions covered by Medicaid have risen, but mostly in Medicaid expansion states.
Source: DeLeire T and others. Impact of insurance expansion on hospital uncompensated costs in 2014. ASPE Issue Brief [US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planningg and Evaluation], Sept. 24, 2014. http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2014/UncompensatedCare/ib_UncompensatedCare.pdf
Related resource:Uncompensated hospital care cost fact sheet. American Hospital Association, Jan. 2014. http://www.aha.org/content/14/14uncompensatedcare.pdf
Posted by AHA Resource Center, (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org
Filed under: Health reform, Hospital costs, Posted by Diana Culbertson, Uninsured | Tagged: hospital charity care costs for uninsured patients, Hospital non-Medicare bad debt costs, hospital uncompensated care costs, uncompensated care cost savings |
