The average annual cost of inpatient hospitalizations for firearm injuries was more than $900 million between 2010 and 2015, according to a new study.
The new study was released by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers this month and also shows that short-term hospital re-admissions for gun injuries alone cost $86 million a year from 2010 through 2015.
“So often, gun injuries are talked about in terms of mortality, as one-time events for medical care,” said Sarabeth Spitzer, a researcher on the team. “What tends to be forgotten are the long-term effects these injuries have on the people who survive and the monetary costs to the healthcare system.”
According to the study, of the 93 percent patients who survived being initially admitted to the hospital with firearm injuries, 15.6 percent of those were readmitted one more times within six months. More than half of those readmitted cases occurred within 30 days of the original discharge form the hospital.
A big chunk of the cost was put on the government, the study found.
Of a total $5.47 billion in costs, Medicaid contributed $2.1 billion, and Medicare provided $389 million. Private insurance and self-paying patients each accounted for about $1.1 billion, and the remainder was covered by other payers.
“We end up as a society paying a huge amount for these injuries,” Spitzer said. “These numbers draw attention to the fact there are consequences we all face when people are injured by guns.”
The researchers used the Nationwide Readmission Database to assess the frequency of re-admissions. They cautioned the rate of readmission likely underestimates how many victims actually return to the hospital because the database only logs returns within the year.
The full costs are also probably lower than they actually are, the researchers said, because they did not factor in emergency services, long-term healthcare, home healthcare, rehabilitation, medications, out of pocket, professional fees, or other non-inpatient medical services.
[Also read: Guns used in Las Vegas massacre may be sold to raise cash for victims’ families]
