U.S. community hospitals provided $39 billion in free care in 2009, and another $36.5 billion in care for which government insurance programs did not reimburse them, an annual American Hospital Association analysis says.
Both figures were notable increases from prior years, with uncompensated-care costs rising 6% and unreimbursed federal care rising 12.7%.
The AHA says the figures represent an estimate of the actual cost of providing the care, not charges. The hospital trade association computes the figures by multiplying “gross charges”—the amounts billed to payers—by a cost-to-charge ratio that estimates hospitals' pricing markup.
The statistics came out the same day that the association released its annual compendium on hospital statistics, which found
hospitals earning a 5% profit margin in 2009 despite sustained financial pressures in the wider economy. More than 70% of hospitals reported lower patient volumes in 2009, the AHA said.
“Although the overall financial health of hospitals remains fragile, hospitals continue to be an important source of jobs for communities,” the association said in a news release, adding that hospitals employed 5.3 million people in 2009.
