Around 14.5 percent of Washington residents have no coverage, and many of them lack the necessary coverage for their medical needs, according to the report. The percentage of uninsured people has grown in 31 out of 39 Washington counties.
When hospitals take on charity cases and write-off bad debt, those losses are passed on to insurance holders, adding approximately $1,017 to an average family’s annual premium, according to the report. Hospitals and healthcare providers in Washington are currently spending around $1 billion per year on uncompensated care, which includes a 36 percent increase in charity care costs from 2008-2010.
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