Texas Legislative Work Group Says Uncompensated Care Must Include Bad Debt & Charity Care

OPEN MINDS Weekly News Wire Strategic Health Care News To better determine the actual cost of uncompensated care, a Texas legislative work group recommended that the state adopt a broad definition of uncompensated care to account for varying payer sources and programs. The definition of uncompensated care must include bad debt in addition to charity care, but should be broken down into the sources of bad debt. Uncompensated care stems from care provided to individuals completely lacking insurance and from care provided to under-insured individuals. Texas has the highest rate of uninsurance in the nation: 5.5 million residents . . .