Today, the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) released RI Uncompensated Hospital Care (2007). The report details the amount of uncompensated care (charity care and bad debt) that hospital patients receive, the demographics of charity care patients and the financial burden of this uncompensated care on the hospitals.
In 2007, patients received $49.7 million in charity care, and the net cost of this care to the hospitals was $36.5 million. In addition, charity care accounted for 1.41% of patient revenue - an increase of 32% from 2006. In 2007, $57.1 million worth of patient care was considered to be bad debt, and the net cost of this to the hospitals was $37.3 million. Bad debt accounted for 1.43% of patient revenue – an increase of 8% from 2006.
“Our state’s hospitals deliver medically necessary services without regard to a patient’s ability to pay,” said Director of Health David R. Gifford, MD, MPH. “Although uncompensated care is a relatively small portion of patient revenue, we need to continue to examine how hospitals provide necessary care for the indigent while maintaining their own financial solvency. In 2007, Rhode Island had 113,000 uninsured residents, and hospitals are the healthcare providers of last resort for acute, inpatient services for the uninsured.”
The report is available on HEALTH’s website at http://www.health.ri.gov/publications/UncompensatedHospitalCare.pdf.