Ulaven_Demorte
Non-Prophet Organization
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2006
- Posts
- 30,016
According to a new report from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, hospitals in the state are saving money by providing less uncompensated care.
Uncompensated care is driven by low-income and uninsured people who can’t pay their hospital bills. After Arizona removed childless adults from its Medicaid program back in 2011, uncompensated care skyrocketed throughout the state. But now that Arizona has expanded Medicaid under the health reform law, a move that allowed childless adults to enroll in the public health program again, that trend is being reversed.
In the first four months of this year, according to the new report, the uncompensated care at Arizona hospitals dropped by 31 percent compared to the same period in 2013. That helped the average operating margin of Arizona hospitals to rise from 4 percent to 5.2 percent over the last year.
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Hospitals providing less uncompensated care should translate to lower costs overall as they don't have to spread those losses among other patients.
Uncompensated care is driven by low-income and uninsured people who can’t pay their hospital bills. After Arizona removed childless adults from its Medicaid program back in 2011, uncompensated care skyrocketed throughout the state. But now that Arizona has expanded Medicaid under the health reform law, a move that allowed childless adults to enroll in the public health program again, that trend is being reversed.
In the first four months of this year, according to the new report, the uncompensated care at Arizona hospitals dropped by 31 percent compared to the same period in 2013. That helped the average operating margin of Arizona hospitals to rise from 4 percent to 5.2 percent over the last year.
___________________________________
Hospitals providing less uncompensated care should translate to lower costs overall as they don't have to spread those losses among other patients.