AZ unpaid hospital bills drop after Medicaid expansion

The number of unpaid bills at Arizona hospitals dropped dramatically during the first four months of the year as more than 300,000 residents gained health coverage under the state's Medicaid expansion and the federal health-care law. An Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association survey of 75 percent of the state's hospitals reported uncompensated care of $170 million through the first four months of the year, down from $246 million over the same ¬period one year earlier. That's a 31 percent drop in uncompensated care, which measures both charity care for those who can't afford to pay for their hospital stays and bad debt from hospital bills that go unpaid.