title: Who walks through the door? The effect of the uninsured on hospital use.
abstract: Hospitals are concerned about the implications of an increase in the number of uninsured people. Using data from the 1999 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), we calculate what percentage of hospital inpatient, emergency department, and outpatient visits are accounted for by uninsured people and predict how those shares would change under three different scenarios. We find that although the burden of the uninsured would remain a severe problem for some hospitals, it would not likely increase much for most of them. This finding reflects the relatively low utilization rates among those most likely to lose coverage: nonelderly, nonpregnant, and nondisabled workers and their families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Karoline
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mortensen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D017149:Private Sector / Q000191:economics; D017150:Public Sector / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review