All hospital stays, in comparison, grew only 4 percent from 2003-2008 and by 10 percent from 1998-2003.
The average cost for an uninsured hospital stay was $7,300 in 2008. Public hospitals had the greatest share of uninsured patients, at 8.3 percent of all stays in 2008, compared with 5.5 percent in private, for-profit hospitals and 4.7 percent at not-for-profit hospitals.
In 2008, hospitals in the South had more than twice as many uninsured stays (7.6 percent of all stays) as those in the Northeast (3.2 percent). Uninsured patients made up 4.9 percent of stays in the Midwest and 3.6 percent in the West.
In the nation overall from 2003-2008, uninsured hospital stays increased by 55 percent for skin infections, 43 percent for gall bladder disease, 40 percent for diabetes complications, 35 percent for alcohol-related disorders and 20 percent for heart attacks.
Read the Health News Digest report on the uninsured.
Read more coverage of the uninsured:
– More Adults Foregoing Medical Care, Health Insurance Due to Cost
– Homeless Cost $2,600 More Per Hospital Stay, Study Finds
– Tax Money for Treating Uninsured Should Follow the Patient, Florida Governor Says
