Hospital Stays for Childbirth and Mental Disorders are Often Uninsured

Press Release Date: January 11, 2001

Three mental conditions—alcohol-related mental disorders, depression, and substance-related mental disorders—account for about 135,000 hospital stays a year that are not covered by either private insurance or public insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

These three conditions together are second only to childbirth in the number of stays in U.S. hospitals that are uninsured.

• Five percent of all hospitalizations for childbirth—roughly 191,000 hospital stays annually—are uninsured.
• Nearly 23 percent of all stays for substance-related mental disorders are uninsured, as are about 19 percent of alcohol-related mental disorders, and roughly 8 percent of stays for treatment of depression.
• Asthma and diabetes mellitus together account for 65,000 uninsured hospital admissions each year. These two chronic diseases, if appropriately treated in primary care practices, do not ordinarily result in hospitalization.

Select to access table of Top 10 Uninsured Principal Diagnoses in U.S. Hospitals (PDF File, 7 KB [PDF Help]; Text Version, 3 KB).

The public can obtain other statistical information on hospital care nationwide and from selected States by visiting HCUPnet (http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/) and following the instructional prompts.

For more information, please contact Bob Isquith, (301) 427-1539 (RIsquith@ahrq.gov).

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Internet Citation:

Hospital Stays for Childbirth and Mental Disorders are Often Uninsured. Press Release, January 11, 2001. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2001/hosptable.htm

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