Cost of Caring for Uninsured Skyrockets at Major New Jersey Hospital
During national "Cover the Uninsured Week," a major academic medical center in New Jersey today announced the cost of caring for the uninsured has risen 89 percent since the year 2000.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ (PRWEB) May 15, 2004
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital today announced that its cost of caring for the poor and uninsured skyrocketed 89 percent since the year 2000, as the major academic medical center added its voice to a weeklong effort to raise awareness about the problem of the uninsured.
“Uncompensated care is a serious problem for all hospitals, but falls especially hard on our Academic Medical Center,” said Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital President and CEO Harvey A. Holzberg. “Each year, we see more and more people without insurance and unable to pay the cost of care. Our hospital is committed to caring for every patient whether they have insurance or not. What’s required is a similar commitment at the national level to find a solution to the issue of the uninsured, because hospitals can not continue bearing this burden alone.”
In 2003, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital provided $37.5 million in uncompensated care – a figure that represented approximately seven percent of its total budget. This was an 89 percent increase from the year 2000, when the hospital provided $19.8 million in uncompensated care.
The hospital announced the figures during “Cover the Uninsured Week,” a nationwide campaign to promote health coverage for Americans taking place May 10-16.
Co-chaired by Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, the nonpartisan Cover the Uninsured Week effort is endorsed by nine former U. S. Surgeons General and U. S. Secretaries of Health and Human Services. More than 2,000 events are being planned across the country as part of Cover the Uninsured Week.
According to the U. S. Census Bureau, nearly 44 million Americans, including 8.5 million children, are without health coverage. Eight out of 10 are in families in which someone has a job. Some are not offered insurance through their employer; others cannot afford the coverage that is offered.
While the State of New Jersey’s Charity Care program is set up to reimburse hospitals for the cost of providing care to the poor and uninsured, in practice this program provides only a fraction of total costs. According to one estimate, New Jersey hospitals collectively provided $778 million in care to the uninsured last year, and were reimbursed $381 million by the state – about 50 cents on the dollar.
Many others who lack health insurance do not qualify for the stateÂ’s Charity Care program, and are considered self-pay patients. Hospitals receive no reimbursements when such patients are unable to pay their hospital bills.
“As the nation observes ‘Cover the Uninsured Week,’ we join in calling on our leaders at the state and federal level to address this burden that has been placed on the backs of hospitals, because hospitals can not continue to bear it alone,” Holzberg said.
