Article
Uncompensated Care Cost: A Pilot Study Using Hospitals in a Texas County
Management Faculty Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2009
Disciplines
Abstract
The financial ramifications of uncompensated care cost (UCC) on the healthcare industry have been difficult to quantify. With the lack of a standardized definition of uncompensated care and the need to account for the uninsured, indigent, and immigrant populations, the authors identified $190 million of UCC from Southwestern border hospitals for emergency room treatment of undocumented immigrants and $934 million of uncompensated care charges for 23 hospitals in a Texas county, which translated to $353 million of UCC. Although lawmakers passed the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (2003) to address the growing imbalance, the shortfall of funds highlights the growing crisis and need for policy intervention.
Citation Information
Coustasse, A., Lorden, A. L., Nemarugommula, V., & Singh, K. P. (2009). Uncompensated care cost: A pilot study using hospitals in a Texas county. Hospital Topics, 87(2), 3-12.
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Coustasse, A., Lorden, A. L., Nemarugommula, V., & Singh, K. P. (2009). Uncompensated care cost: A pilot study using hospitals in a Texas county. Hospital Topics, 87(2), 3-12, as published in HOSPITAL TOPICS, 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online
at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.3200/HTPS.87.2.3-12