Indigent care biggest threat to hospitals

Healthcare providers, attorneys and opinion leaders identified increasing pressures on hospitals from uncompensated care and high costs as the leading issue of concern within the healthcare sector, according to a survey conducted at the 12th annual Health Law and Policy Forum sponsored by King & Spalding (Atlanta).

Nearly 60% of survey respondents cited the burden of increased hospital costs as the No. 1 healthcare issue in 2005. Rising Medicare/Medicaid costs ranked a close second, with 57% of respondents identifying those programs as a leading issue.

More than 100 attendees at the King & Spalding forum, held in Atlanta, heard the latest updates on a range of healthcare topics, including the issue of increasing class-action litigation against non-profit hospitals.