Patient Financial Responsibility

With More Chronic Disease Comes More Medical Debt

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Patients with chronic diseases face higher amounts of medical debt and are more likely to face adverse financial outcomes compared to patients with no chronic disease or just one diagnosis, according...

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...

Key Challenges, Strategies for Patient-First Billing

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Patients always come first in healthcare. However, patient-first billing is still a relatively new concept for provider organizations. “Self-pay A/R is really shifting with high-deductible health plans,” explains Adrienne...

Medical Debt Plagues 41% of Americans, KFF Survey Finds

by Victoria Bailey

Four in ten adults have medical debt, with nearly half owing $2,500 or more, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). The KFF Health Care Debt Survey reflects responses from...

TN Court Develops Platform for Negotiating Medical Debt Challenges

by Victoria Bailey

A Tennessee court has developed an online dispute resolution platform to help residents negotiate solutions to medical debt challenges without filing a lawsuit. Judge Alex McVeagh of the Hamilton...

COVID-19 Pandemic Did Not Impact Medical Debt Among Americans

by Victoria Bailey

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying financial challenges were not associated with any changes in medical debt, according to a study published in JAMA Health Forum. When the pandemic hit,...

Fewer Adults Faced Medical Debt Challenges During Pandemic

by Victoria Bailey

The pandemic may have brought some financial relief to consumers, as the share of adults experiencing medical debt challenges decreased in 2021, an Urban Institute report found. Researchers used data...

Medical Debt Challenges Common Among Consumer Complaints

by Victoria Bailey

Americans continued to face medical debt challenges, with consumers reporting instances of debt collectors attempting to collect medical debt that was already paid or does not belong to them, according...

Biden Admin Announces Plans to Alleviate Medical Debt Burden

by Victoria Bailey

The Biden-Harris administration has announced a series of reforms that aim to alleviate medical debt burden and increase consumer protections for Americans. One in three adults across the country has...

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...

Lower-Income, Younger Americans Faced More Medical Debt Struggles

by Victoria Bailey

Healthcare finance struggles plague adults in every generation, with a quarter of Generation Z and Millennial Americans reporting that they skipped their rent or mortgage payments due to medical debt,...

Exploring the Fundamentals of Medical Billing and Coding

by Editorial Staff

Medical billing and coding translate a patient encounter into the languages healthcare facilities use for claims submission and reimbursement. Billing and coding are separate processes, but both are necessary for providers to receive...

Practices Not Ready to Implement NSA’s Good Faith Estimates

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Physician practices are struggling to comply with the No Surprises Act’s good faith estimate requirements, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. The new federal law requires all providers to...

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...

NY Hospitals Place Liens Against Patient Homes Over Medical Debt

by Sarai Rodriguez

The report led by CSS underscores how hospitals throughout New York are securing liens against patient homes following a court-ordered medical debt judgment. These predatory medical debt tactics...

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