Cost of Caring for Uninsured Skyrockets
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - 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 state'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.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Selected as one of four hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.rwjuh.edu) is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.
The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for both heart and heart surgery and respiratory disorders, according to U.S.News & World Report's 2008 ranking of "America's Best Hospitals." The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for more than 10 consecutive years.
Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.
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