Uninsured Unable to Pay Hospital Bills

A new report by the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) examines the issues surrounding hospital stays for the uninsured. According to the report, families without health insurance can afford to pay in full for only approximately 12 percent of hospital stays. Hospital stays for which the uninsured cannot pay in full account for 95 percent of the total amount hospitals bill the uninsured. It is estimated that this uncompensated cost of care is up to $73 billion a year, a significant portion of which is shifted into higher costs for Americans with insurance and their employers.

“One of the most enduring myths in American healthcare is that people without health insurance can get care with little or no problem. Nothing could be further from the truth,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “The result is families going without care— or facing healthcare bills they can’t hope to pay. When the uninsured cannot afford the care they receive, that cost must be absorbed by other payers. This is why expanding access to affordable health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is so important.”