Texas hospitals spend $5 billion each year on uninsured care, Texas Hospital Association President and CEO Ted Shaw wrote in a Midland Reporter-Telegram published article.
Texas' uninsured population — estimated at more than 4.6 million in recent U.S. Census Bureau data — is the largest in the country, representing 17.1 percent of the state's population.
"The $5 billion in unreimbursed annual healthcare costs — an amount that is increasing as the state's population grows — is not a sustainable business expense for Texas hospitals," Mr. Shaw writes. "We all bear the consequences as hospitals have to make tough decisions about cutting services and laying off staff even as the demand for healthcare grows."
Mr. Shaw wrote costs from uninsured patients are high in part because uninsured individuals wait until their condition is severe to seek treatment.
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