TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Costs and financial burden of initial hospitalizations for firearm injuries in the United States, 2006-2014
JO  - American journal of public health
A1  - Spitzer, Sarabeth A.
A1  - Staudenmayer, Kristan L.
A1  - Tennakoon, Lakshika
A1  - Spain, David A.
A1  - Weiser, Thomas G.
SP  - 770
EP  - 774
VL  - 107
IS  - 5
N2  - OBJECTIVES: To quantify the inflation-adjusted costs associated with initial hospitalizations for firearm-related injuries in the United States. <br><br>METHODS: We used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample to identify patients admitted for firearm-related injuries from 2006 to 2014. We converted charges from hospitalization to costs, which we inflation-adjusted to 2014 dollars. We used survey weights to create national estimates. <br><br>RESULTS: Costs for the initial inpatient hospitalization totaled $6.61 billion. The largest proportion was for patients with governmental insurance coverage, totaling $2.70 billion (40.8%) and was divided between Medicaid ($2.30 billion) and Medicare ($0.40 billion). Self-pay individuals accounted for $1.56 billion (23.6%) in costs. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: From 2006 to 2014, the cost of initial hospitalizations for firearm-related injuries averaged $734.6 million per year. Medicaid paid one third and self-pay patients one quarter of the financial burden. These figures substantially underestimate true health care costs. Public health implications. Firearm-related injuries are costly to the US health care system and are particularly burdensome to government insurance and the self-paying poor. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print March 21, 2017: e1-e5. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303684).<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0090-0036
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303684
ID  - ref1
ER  -