Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Healthcare Of The Uninsured Population In West Virginia And The United States, Leslie Salyers, Mounica Mummaneni, William K. Willis, Alberto Coustasse

William K Willis

Introduction: The uninsured population in the United States has increased dramatically over the past few years. Hospitals and physicians bear the financial burden of the uninsured by compensating for the billions of dollars in bad debt or uncompensated care they incur each year. Emergency rooms and other healthcare facilities are left with billions in uncompensated care due to 47 million uninsured Americans. Uncompensated care in 2006 was $31.2 billion. Majority of individuals accounting for uncompensated care are those living at or below the federal poverty level and those individuals who can afford health coverage but freely choose to forgo purchasing …