Uninsured Hospital Stays On the Rise

THURSDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Between 1997 and 2006, hospital admissions for uninsured Americans rose by 34%, from 1.7 million to 2.2 million stays, a new report finds.

The increase is more than double the 14% rise in overall hospital admissions during that same period, according to a just-released report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

In the South and Northeast, uninsured hospital admissions increased by 39% and 26%, respectively, while they decreased by nearly 20% in the Midwest and remained stable in the West.

The report also said that the cost for treating uninsured patients increased 76% between 1997 and 2006, from $11,000 to $19,400 per patient, after adjusting for inflation. During that same time, there was a 69% increase in hospital charges overall.

Several conditions were major contributors to the significant increase in uninsured hospitalizations:

• Skin infections increased 167%, from 27,900 to 74,500 hospital stays per year.
• Chest pain with no known cause rose 101%, from 39,300 to 79,200 hospitalizations a year.
• Diabetes with complications, such as poor foot or leg circulation, increased 76%, from 31,000 to 52,000 hospital stays per year.
• Hospitalizations for depression and other mood disorders rose 41%, from 55,000 to 77,300.
• Childbirth, the most common reason for uninsured hospitalizations, rose 32%, from 190,700 to 251,800 hospital stays annnually.

The report is based on the Trends in Uninsured Hospital Stays, 1997-2006 study, which uses statistics from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, news release, Feb. 18, 2009

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