Medicaid Billed for More than Half of U.S. Hospital Costs From Gun Injuries - News Center

"The initial hospital treatment of firearm injuries cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $7.7 billion between 2016 and 2021, with the largest share falling on urban trauma center hospitals that serve the highest proportion of Medicaid patients, according to a new study published in JAMA Health Forum and led by Northwestern and the University of Michigan. The study analyzed emergency department and inpatient visits for firearm injuries between 2016 and 2021. Annual costs held steady at about $1.2 billion through 2019, then jumped to $1.6 billion in 2021, a 33 percent increase that coincided with a rise in firearm injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic."

"More than half of all firearm injury costs were billed to Medicaid. Yet, Medicaid reimbursement often falls short of actual treatment costs, leaving safety-net hospitals, which serve vulnerable, lower-income patient populations, on the front lines of the gun violence epidemic to absorb substantial losses. The study authors warn that recent Medicaid funding cuts adopted by Congress could further strain these hospitals."

""Gun injuries are a source of financial strain on hospitals, particularly large safety-net trauma center hospitals that often operate on thin margins," said study corresponding author Alexander Lundberg, PhD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine. "Because in many states Medicaid reimbursement is typically below the true cost of care, trauma center hospitals are already absorbing significant losses," added study co-author Anne Stey, MD, assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Critical Care and a Northwestern Medicine trauma surgeon."

Initial hospital treatment of firearm injuries cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $7.7 billion between 2016 and 2021. Annual costs averaged about $1.2 billion through 2019 and rose to $1.6 billion in 2021, a 33 percent increase that coincided with increased firearm injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of total costs were billed to Medicaid, but Medicaid reimbursement frequently falls below actual treatment costs, forcing safety-net hospitals and urban trauma centers that serve high proportions of Medicaid patients to absorb substantial financial losses. Recent Medicaid funding cuts could further destabilize trauma centers and threaten access to high-level trauma care.

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