Medicare and Medicaid underpaid hospitals by $75.8 billion in 2019, according to the latest data from the American Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals.
The total comprises underpayments of $56.8 billion for Medicare and $19.0 billion for Medicaid, according to the data.
The hospital association said that underpayments occur when the reimbursement hospitals receive is less than the amount paid for personnel, technology, and other goods and services required to provide care.
In 2019, hospitals received payment of 87 cents for every dollar they spent caring for Medicare patients and 90 cents for every dollar spent caring for Medicaid patients, according to the survey.
Access the AHA's full fact sheet here.