Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
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Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#2It's very expensive being sick for any extended period of time; I had my first partial glossectomy surgery (removal of a piece of my tongue) in October 2022 (https://jakeseliger.com/2023/07/22/i-am-dying-of-squamous-ce...), and there are at least three major components to being sick for a long time: health itself; financial viability; and managing the healthcare team.
I've been lucky with the generosity of friends and strangers regarding the second one due a successful Go Fund Me, but I've also gotten walloped with some gnarly bills, most notably for Signatera blood tests for cancer particles and for genetic testing of the tumor itself. United Healthcare considers those experimental and thus uncovered. But the genetic testing of the tumor is essential because it might lead to targeted treatments.
Legislation has supposedly limited surprise out-of-network bills, but, even with insurance, costs can be very high, and those combined with not being able to work effectively leads to problems.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#3It's probably impossible to know the full extent of this, but some percentage of hospital debt comes from people that can fully afford their healthcare but are using the payment plans as no-interest loans while their money is invested elsewhere. The HSA accounts you get with the high-deductible plans allow you to park the money in self-directed IRA accounts for your entire life. In fact, tax law encourages you to do this.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#4It's probably impossible to know the full extent of this, but some percentage of hospital debt comes from people that can fully afford their healthcare but are using the payment plans as no-interest loans while their money is invested elsewhere. The HSA accounts you get with the high-deductible plans allow you to park the money in self-directed IRA accounts for your entire life . In fact, tax law encourages you to do…
I don't think amounts that are on a payment plan would qualify as "bad debt" though - if someone is paying as agreed on a payment plan the debt isn't uncollectible.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#5It’s called a deductible.
People don’t pay their bills anymore, unless they absolutely have to.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#6I have good insurance and I have unpaid medical bills for the following reason:
1. Visited a doctor 4 months ago, got a bill 3 months after the visit, paid it, then got a surprise second bill, which I have put off paying because I need to find time during my work hours to follow up on with the hospital + insurance.
2. Didn’t get bills for some of the visits I made in the last 3 months.
3. Insurance randomly denied claims, so need to follow up with them and the hospital.
4. Despite insurance covering 70-90% on different services, one visit for my spouse cost us thousands. We decided to pay it off as installments instead of one time because we got a really good deal.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#7That has included me, in the past. It is stupid easy to accidentally have a debt to a hospital. For families, sensible privacy rules at clinics can mean that it is very hard to choke point bills to a single person. To the point that I asked every time if I owed money when I did checkups to be told that we did not. Only to later find that my family did, in fact, have a bill due. For a while.
Recently I'm getting it with the stupid "anesthesia is billed separate from the surgery" nonsense. At least this time I noticed the bill. Why is that not a single bill, though? Imagine having to pay the cook, cleaner, server, and attendants all separately. So frustrating.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#8Hospital said I owed debt. Contested claim with debt collectors. Never saw it again and not on my credit report. Know a few people who've done this.
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#9This is the kind of headline you have to be careful with because as long as there's debt there will be a majority of debtors. Without raw numbers, this could mean more insured people are getting into debt _or_ it could mean that the US has gotten better at providing cost-effective health care for the uninsured. If that's the case, than this headline is something to be celebrated.
Let's say last year 100 people were in debt to hospitals - 40 insured, 60 uninsured.
This year 70 people are in debt to hospitals - 40 insured, 30 uninsured.
Great!
(I know that it would be much better if no one was in debt, but that's a separate discussion.)
(Also possibly fewer uninsured people are in debt because they all died of treatable conditions but that conclusion will have to wait on more data.)
Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance
#10That has included me, in the past. It is stupid easy to accidentally have a debt to a hospital. For families, sensible privacy rules at clinics can mean that it is very hard to choke point bills to a single person. To the point that I asked every time if I owed money when I did checkups to be told that we did not. Only to later find that my family did, in fact, have a bill due. For a while. Recently I'm getting it wi…
I would point out that the attending surgeon, the anaesthesiologist, and the hospital all bill the patient separately here for a surgery, in Ontario, Canada. (Most people will never see these bills and it's covered by the public insurance.)
The reason is that the service - the contract - is organized in that way. Between the patient and the anaesthesiologist, between the patient and the surgeon, and between the patient and the hospital. So three separate bills. The doctor and hospital will have their own contract. Legally, and in an important way when it comes to decide who to sue for malpractice, the hospital is not the provider or performer of the surgery. They just provide the venue and equipment; the doctors do the surgery.