Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Spending

As Patient Financial Responsibility Grows, Technology Key to Collections

August 10, 2023 - You may not want to think about the new year just yet. But if you don’t have a patient payment solution in place now, you might be sorry come January. Patient financial responsibility has hit all-time highs over the last decade, with deductibles for a single patient covered by an employer-sponsored health plan averaging over $1,700. That cost is up 61 percent from 2012, KFF...


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CFPB Report Identifies Pitfalls of Medical Credit Cards, Loans

by Jacqueline LaPointe

In the age of high deductibles, providers are increasingly turning to financial institutions and fintech companies to offer medical credit cards and installment loans to their patients. However, a new...

National Healthcare Spending Grows 2.7% as COVID-19 Relief Runs Dry

by Jacqueline LaPointe

National healthcare spending is slowing down in the US compared to a significant 10.3 percent increase in 2020. However, healthcare costs remain high as US health expenditures reach $4.3...

High Out-of-Pocket Costs Led to Low Patient Collection Rates

by Victoria Bailey

Patient collection rates at hospitals declined and bad debt increased when out-of-pocket bills reached $7,500, according to a report from Crowe Revenue Cycle Analytics (Crowe RCA). The report reflects...

Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Spending Increased Leading Up to Pandemic

by Victoria Bailey

The share of out-of-pocket healthcare spending for patients with employer-sponsored health coverage increased by nearly 2 percent between 2013 and 2019, according to an issue brief from the Employee...

Pregnancy Care, Childbirth Led to $19K More in Healthcare Costs

by Victoria Bailey

Pregnant women enrolled in large group health plans incurred almost $19,000 more in healthcare costs and spent nearly $3,000 more in out-of-pocket expenses than those who did not give birth, a...

70% of Medical Collection Debt Will Leave Consumer Credit Reports

by Victoria Bailey

Three nationwide credit reporting agencies have announced that they will remove nearly 70 percent of medical collection debt tradelines from consumer credit reports to help ease the burden that...

Credit Reports Showed $88B in Past-Due Medical Debts in 2021

by Victoria Bailey

Consumer credit reports disclosed around $88 billion in past-due medical debt in 2021, underscoring the burden of healthcare costs and the barriers individuals face in the wake of high medical...

Consumers Don’t Pay Patient Financial Responsibility After Bad Experience

by Sarai Rodriguez

Consumers report a negative experience will dissuade them from paying full patient financial responsibility, according to the 2021 Healthcare Consumer Experience Study from Cedar.  In the survey...

Hospital Prices for Most Services Less than Payer-Negotiated Rates

by Sarai Rodriguez

According to a JAMA Network Open study, discounted cash prices for hospital services often cost less than negotiated commercial prices between hospitals and payers. However, not all hospital...

WI Hospitals Sued 37% More Patients Over Medical Debt

by Sarai Rodriguez

In a Health Affairs study, researchers from Yale and Stanford report that hospital lawsuits against patients over unpaid medical debt rose by more than a third in Wisconsin over nearly two decades,...

Most Americans Face Medical Debt Owe Over $2000

by Sarai Rodriguez

According to a survey from Discover Person Loans, most consumers face medical debt of more than $2,000. The medical debt impacts most consumers’ financial ability to access medical care...

Private Equity-Backed Air Ambulances Major Culprit of Surprise Bills

by Sarai Rodriguez

Prior to The No Surprise Act, many air ambulance rides left patients at risk for receiving a surprise bill, according to a USC- Brookings Schaeffer Study.   The air ambulance market has...

70% of Adults Worry About Healthcare Affordability

by Sarai Rodriguez

A survey conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 74 percent of surveyed adults worry about their healthcare cost and 70 percent worry about the healthcare affordability. The...

Out-of-Pocket Costs Less When Hospitals Don’t Bill Insurance

by Sarai Rodriguez

A study shows that patients with high deductible plans can save money on out-of-pocket costs by not going through their insurance and paying a reduced cash price. Hospitals must now publish their...

Few Physicians Accurately Estimate Patient Out-of-Pocket Costs

by Sarai Rodriguez

A study published in JAMA Network Open finds that very few physicians can accurately estimate patient out-of-pocket costs for medication filling. The study surveyed 371 primary care physicians to...

Before COVID-19, Healthcare Spending Increased by 4.6%

by Jacqueline LaPointe

National healthcare spending continued to grow right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, increasing by 4.6 percent in 2019 to a total of $3.8 trillion, the American Medical Association (AMA)...

Mass. Healthcare Spending Increases, Premiums, Cost-Sharing Slow

by Hannah Nelson

Massachusetts experienced higher-than-expected total healthcare spending growth in 2019, however rates of commercial insurance premiums and member cost-sharing decelerated from 2018, according to the...

3 Key Steps for Hospital Price Transparency Compliance

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS now requires US hospitals to post a list of their standard charges, including rates negotiated with private payers, on a publicly available website in both machine-readable and consumer-friendly...

Hospitals Can Sell Patient Bad Debt to Charitable Orgs, OIG Says

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Charitable organizations like RIP Medical Debt can purchase patient bad debt directly from hospitals and other providers, according to a recent advisory opinion from HHS’ Office of the Inspector...