21 Connecticut hospitals have access to a total of $119,811,530 to cover the costs of care for the uninsured and underinsured

The funds were donated, often decades ago, specifically for the purpose of covering the costs of care for those who cannot pay their bills. The funds are specific to each hospital and not evenly distributed - Hartford and Yale-New Haven Hospitals have the largest funds at $49,171,345 and $36,676,957 - together they have 72% of the total. Eleven CT hospitals have no free bed funds.

Hospitals vary in how much of their balance they spend each year.

In FY 2001, the latest data, Griffin Hospital spent 100% of its free bed funds on free care. Other hospitals varied between 31% and zero percent of their balance spent on care for the uninsured.

Doesn't the state reimburse hospitals for care provided to the uninsured?

Yes, the state reimburses hospitals for the costs of providing care to patients who cannot pay their bills through the DSH program. In FY 2001, Connecticut reimbursed hospitals $203,205,646 under DSH. Those payments do not take into account which hospitals have the advantage of free bed funds.

Also, under DSH, hospitals are reimbursed for even the free care they provide that is reimbursed from their free bed funds. Since DSH funds go into a hospital's general fund, this essentially allows hospitals to shift money from accounts restricted to free care into unrestricted accounts, bypassing donors' wishes.

It gets worse. Hospitals expend free bed funds to pay themselves back for free care according to their "charges" not the actual costs of providing the care. Charges are the sticker price that no one but the uninsured pays. In 2000, actual costs of care averaged only 56% of charges. If free bed funds were limited to the actual costs of care, far more patients in need could benefit.

Bottom line: Some Connecticut hospitals have significant resources to cover the costs of care for the uninsured that they are not using, while collecting millions in state dollars for that care

Connecticut Hospital Funds for Indigent Care/Free Beds Fiscal Year 2001