Medicare and Medicaid payments to U.S. hospitals in 2007 fell $31.9 billion short of the cost of care provided to hospital patients insured by those programs, according to the latest American Hospital Association Annual Survey.
The reported increase in underpayments is $2 billion more than the shortfall in Medicare and Medicaid payments to U.S. hospitals in 2006. In addition, the survey found U.S. hospitals provided $34 billion in uncompensated care in 2007, up from $31.2 billion in 2006.
Nearly one-third of U.S. hospitals lost money on operations in 2007.
Hospitals continued to see an increase in outpatient visits, with fewer emergency departments caring for a rising number of patients. U.S. emergency department visits rose by more than 2.4 million in 2007, while U.S. inpatient admissions declined by more than 31,000.
The American Hospital Association is the national organization that represents all types of hospitals and healthcare networks. Close to 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, networks, other providers of care and 37,000 individual members form the AHA.