GAO: Gun violence costs hospitals over $1B annually

Initial gun injuries cost hospitals more than $1 billion a year, with costs related to physician fees adding an additional 20% to that number, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report, released yesterday, cites hospital data from 2016 and 2017 collected by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. GAO notes that initial injury costs do not include readmissions, which affect up to 16% of survivors, or long-term care costs associated with the injury. GAO said that patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, the departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense accounted for more than 60% of the costs.