On May 10, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report finding that few uninsured individuals have the capacity to pay for potential hospital stays.  HHS officials estimate that uninsured families can pay in full for only 12 percent of hospital stays that they may experience.  With approximately 50 million uninsured individuals, the report notes that previous studies estimated 2008 uncompensated hospital care costs at up to $49 billion.  The authors caution that these costs are often shifted onto insured individuals and employers.

From the report:

One of the primary purposes of health insurance is to protect against the risk of incurring unaffordable medical bills.  When the uninsured cannot afford the care they receive, that cost must be absorbed by other payers.  This brief, written by Andre Chappel, Ph.D., under the supervision of Richard Kronick and Sherry Glied, reports estimates of how likely it is that those without health insurance will be able to pay their hospital bills if they have to be admitted to hospital.

Full Report: The Value of Health Insurance: Few of the Uninsured Have Adequate Resources to Pay Potential Hospital Bills (PDF | 125 KB)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2011). The value of health insurance: few of the uninsured have adequate resources to pay potential hospital bills. Chappel, A.