Gun Injuries in the U.S. Cost $1 Billion Per Year, Watchdog Says

Bloomberg

July 14, 2021 12:25 pm

Firearm injuries in the U.S. cost more than $1 billion per year, with public insurance programs picking up more than half the tab, according to a federal watchdog.

  • The cost of emergency department and inpatient care to treat gunshot injuries was just over $1 billion in each 2016 and 2017, the Government Accountability Office finds in a report released Wednesday
  • Medicaid covered 50% those costs; other public insurance such as Medicare covered 13% 
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Robin Kelly(D-Ill.) requested the report
  • NOTE: House Democrats are proposing $150 million for firearm injury research and prevention in fiscal 2022 health spending bill