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Hospital
admissions and bills rising for Uninsured
Americans
Hospital admissions for the uninsured
increased by a third between 1997 and 2006,
rising from 1.7 million to 2.2 million
stays, according to the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality.
The 34 percent increase is more than double
the 14 percent rise in overall hospital
admissions during the same period.
The proportion of uninsured hospital stays
in the South and Northeast grew by 39 and 26
percent, respectively; decreased in the
Midwest by nearly 20 percent; and, remained
stable in the West.
AHRQ also found that the bill for treating
uninsured patients has increased by 76
percent from $11,000 to $19,400 per stay
over the same period, after adjusting for
inflation, compared to a 69 percent increase
in hospital charges overall.
Several conditions fueled the significant
increase in hospitalizations, including:
• Skin infections rose 167 percent, from
27,900 to 74,500 hospital stays per year.
• Chest pain with no known cause increased
101 percent, from 39,300 to 79,200 hospital
stays per year.
• Diabetes with complications, such as poor
foot or leg circulation, jumped 76 percent,
from 31,000 to 52,000 hospital stays per
year.
• Depression and other mood disorders rose
41 percent, 55,000 to 77,300 hospital stays
per year.
• Childbirth admission, the most common
reason for hospitalization among the
uninsured, increased 32 percent, 190,700 to
251,800 hospital stays per year.
This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data
in "Trends in Uninsured Hospital Stays,
1997- 2006" (http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb67.pdf) .
The report uses statistics from the 2006
Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of
hospital inpatient stays that is nationally
representative of inpatient stays in all
short-term, non-Federal hospitals.
The data are drawn from hospitals that
comprise 90 percent of all discharges in the
United States and include all patients,
regardless of insurance type, as well as the
uninsured.
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