EUREKONOMICS.com

Hospitals struggle with rising cost of uncompensated care

Each year, American hospitals face billions of dollars in unpaid medical costs, and costs will likely rise if no action is taken.

According to the New York Times, "the cost of doing nothing in Washington translates into tens of billions of dollars each year in medical bills that go unpaid by patients with little or no insurance. Nationwide, the cost of unpaid care for hospitals, which includes charity care as well as money that could not be collected from patients, was around $36 billion in 2008. It is expected to spiral higher."

A related article in the Wall Street Journal recently said, "Hospitals stocks have dropped as much as 20 percent from their January peaks" a portion of which is due to the fact that a health overhaul would have reduced uncompensated care, which makes up more than 20 percent of revenue for some hospital operators.