Medicare and Medicaid underpaid U.S. hospitals by $76.8 billion in 2017, according to the latest data from the AHA's Annual Survey of Hospitals. Underpayment occurs when the payment received is less than the costs of providing care, that is, the amount paid by hospitals for the personnel, technology and other goods and services required to provide hospital care. Medicare underpayments in 2017 totaled $53.9 billion and Medicaid underpayments $22.9 billion.
 
In addition, hospitals in 2017 provided $38.4 billion in uncompensated care meaning care for which no payment was received from the patient or insurer. Uncompensated care is the sum of a hospital's bad debt and the financial assistance it provides, but does not include other unfunded costs of care, such as underpayment from Medicare and Medicaid. It also does not account for other services and programs that hospitals provide to meet identified community needs.

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA expressed support Sept. 22 to House and Senate sponsors of the Medicare Advantage Prompt Pay Act (H.R. 5454/S. 2879), legislation that would apply a…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Sept. 18 released a final rule on policy and technical changes to Medicare Advantage, the Medicare…
Headline
The AHA submitted a statement Sept. 17 for a House Ways and Means Committee markup session on a series of health care and other bills. Specifically, the AHA…
Headline
A bipartisan House letter by Reps. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., Gus M. Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Diana DeGette, D-Colo., urged House…
Headline
The AHA Sept. 15 expressed support for the Ensuring Access to Essential Providers Act, legislation that would require Medicare Advantage plans to cover…
Headline
The AHA Sept. 15 urged Aetna to rescind its recently announced “level of severity inpatient payment” policy, saying that it “could erode the transparency…