Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have published a new study in Health Affairs medical journal to “help fill this need.” The study aims to quantify the financial burden of gun violence in the United States by looking at data from 150,930 gun-violence patients who visited emergency rooms between 2006 and 2014.
The annual cost for victims of gun violence is an average of $2.8 billion in emergency-room and inpatient charges alone, the study concluded. If lost wages are factored in, the financial burden rises to $45 billion each year. [...]
Gun shots are a very costly medical expense. The average emergency room visit from a firearm injury costs $5,254 and skyrockets to $95,887 if the patient is admitted overnight. Over the nine years of the study, that amounted to a whopping $22 billion just in inpatient charges. Patients who died during an emergency room visit were charged $11,463 on average and represent 11.7% of total emergency charges in the study. Patients who need outpatient care following a hospital visit, about a third of inpatient gunshot victims, pay even more—about $179,565.
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