The burden of uncompensated care grows

• Published in: Healthcare financial management Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 66, 68, 70 - 68
• Main Author: Ashby, Jr, J L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Healthcare Financial Management Association 01.04.1992
• Subjects: Bad debts; Charities; Cities; Economics, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; Economics, Hospital - trends; Finance; Financial analysis; Government subsidies; Health administration; Health care costs; Health Care Costs - statistics & numerical data; Health Care Costs - trends; Health care policy; Hospital costs; Hospitals; Hospitals - classification; Indigent care; Low income groups; Medicaid; Medical care, Cost of; Medical Indigency - economics; Medicare; Medicare - economics; Medicare - statistics & numerical data; Ownership; Prospective Payment Assessment Commission; Prospective Payment System - statistics & numerical data; Rural areas; Statistical data; Statistics; Subsidies; Teaching hospitals; Trends; Uninsured people; United States; Urban areas; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0735-0732

It is not surprising that costs for uncompensated care are rising dramatically for most hospitals. What generally has not been understood is that uncompensated care costs are rising faster than overall hospital costs, and government subsidies are failing to keep pace. In addition, the unpaid care problem no longer is being shouldered by one specific group. The facilities seeing the greatest increases in expenditures are those not traditionally associated with uncompensated care--small, non-teaching, non-disproportionate care, and suburban hospitals. Finally, a hospital's commitment to care for the uninsured cannot be predicted by any common classification. This information emerged from an analysis conducted by the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission in an effort to develop a basis for devising options to address the uncompensated care problem.