United States hospitals provided $45.9 billion in uncompensated care in 2012, according to data from the American Hospital Association. Most of the bad debt the facilities assumed came as a result of uninsured patients who were unable to pay bills. However, 69 percent of hospitals also received Medicare payments below their actual cost, and 68 percent received Medicaid payments below actual costs. Altogether, underpayments to hospitals totaled $56 billion in 2012. Article