Wisconsin’s uncompensated health care reached $2.04 billion in fiscal 2025 across the state’s 170 hospitals, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s annual report.
Five things to know:
1. Wisconsin’s total uncompensated care rose 15.3% from $1.77 billion in fiscal year 2024.
2. Charity care and bad debt each accounted for approximately $1 billion of the total. Charity care is care a hospital does not expect payment because the patient cannot afford it, while bad debt is care a hospital expected payment but could not collect.
3. Hospitals project uncompensated care will rise 10.6% — $217.5 million — in fiscal year 2026. Bad debt is projected to rise 18% ($181.8 million), while charity care is expected to rise 3.5% ($35.7 million).
4. Milwaukee County accounted for 28.4% ($581.3 million) of overall
uncompensated health care.
5. Wisconsin hospitals provided uncompensated care to 2,025,187 patient visits, up 21.3% from 1,669,910 in fiscal year 2024.
