Patient's charity care options decreasing
Compliance Monitor, March 29, 2006
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As the number of Americans without health insurance reaches 43 million, a new study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change reports that the proportion of U.S. physicians providing charity care is steadily declining. The percentage of physicians providing any free or reduced cost care decreased to 68.2% in 2004-05 from 71.5% in 2000-01, continuing a downward trend that dates to at least 1996-97, when 76.3% of physicians provided charity care, the study found.
Overall, physicians at the highest income levels, such as surgeons, continue to report the greatest provision of charity care, with 75.6% of physicians with practice incomes greater than $250,000 providing charity care in 2004-05, compared with 66.4% of physicians earning less than $120,000.
Less charity care in the doctor's office means more demands on hospital ED's and more patients who simply go without care, according to a lead researcher of the study.
Source:California Healthline; Washington Post
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