Reuters writes: the number of hospital admissions for people without health insurance rose by a third between 1997 and 2006, according to report released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. About 2.2 million hospital stays were recorded in 2006 for people lacking health insurance, up from 1.7 million in 1997. Overall hospital admissions, for the insured and uninsured alike, rose 14 percent over that time. The costs of treating uninsured patients jumped 76 percent over the 10 years. This compares to a 69 percent increase in hospital charges overall.
The report is based on the Trends in Uninsured Hospital Stays, 1997-2006 study, which uses statistics from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays.
Download report: Trends in Uninsured Hospital Stays, 1997-2006 – http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb67.pdf