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A. "According to data from Kodiak Solutions, a healthcare consulting and software firm, hospitals collected 23 percent of what patients owed before treatment in the first quarter of this year, up from 20 percent during the same period in 2022."
B. "A survey conducted by the health policy nonprofit KFF revealed that half of adults in the U.S. would be unable to afford a medical expense exceeding $500 without borrowing."
I always had a high-deductible plan because I was self-employed, very healthy and rarely needed doctors.
Trying to get a price in advance for a medical service was always impossible when I did need a medical procedure so I would would not object to knowing what my bill would be and then discuss how to pay it.
Now I'm on Medicare with a supplement plan and I don't need to worry.
My oral surgeon (great doctor in great demand) is now requiring full payment in advance at the time of scheduling a procedure, I'm guessing enough people didn't pay so he had to do this. A year ago he didn't require advance payment.
Makes sense to me. Medical care is a business like any other that needs cash flow to continue operating. Is the health care system in the US broken and corrupt - yes. But in providing a service to a paying customer they shouldn't be acting as a bank or financial institution. That's probably one reason why costs are getting so high.
As an aside, I think a fair amount of "surgeries" really aren't necessary (not life and death emergencies). And many that do take place are done on patients that are already so far gone and unhealthy that it's honestly not worth it on a financial level. Why should a hospital have to foot the bill for a 300-pounder crippled with diabetes who just had another stroke?
Because they are set up as Non for Profits most times and get to avoid paying taxes. The Local Schools here in my area do not see money from the Hospitals as they are filed as Non for Profit.
Hospitals Are Refusing to Do Surgeries Unless You Pay in Full First
Advance billing helps the facilities avoid chasing patients to pay after their procedures
Ain't America great?
Have you ever actually asked a Hospital what a given procedure will cost?
This would come up a fair bit in the world High Deductible HI Policy holders and other cash payers.
So, a menu of procedure and treatments with prices? I'm in. But I smell a rat.
I always had a high-deductible plan because I was self-employed, very healthy and rarely needed doctors.
Trying to get a price in advance for a medical service was always impossible when I did need a medical procedure so I would would not object to knowing what my bill would be and then discuss how to pay it.
Now I'm on Medicare with a supplement plan and I don't need to worry.
My oral surgeon (great doctor in great demand) is now requiring full payment in advance at the time of scheduling a procedure, I'm guessing enough people didn't pay so he had to do this. A year ago he didn't require advance payment.
You can get a CareCredit account and if paid off in the promo rate period (which can be up to 24 months) it's interest-free. If you screw up and don't pay in full by that date, you get dinged HARD for interest back to the date of the loan, but if you pay it off, you're fine. Check for CareCredit online. The card can even be used at the pharmacy for super high dollar meds.
It is not the people that have surgeries that is the problem-its the people who think they do NOT need health insurance that is the problem-until they do. And that costs thousands of dollars.
Anyway,I can see this becoming a problem,and making it the Supreme Court. Why? It conflicts with the EMTALA ACT.
What if someone needs an emergency surgery and does not have the money for the deductible? That is a violation of the EMTALA ACT
Likely the person would have the emergency surgery under these conditions and the hospital would try and collect the money later. EMTALA requires only that a patient be stabilized in the ER, if that can be done and the surgery postponed, then different arrangements may be made.
The topic of the thread, and of the linked article in the OP, was addressing nonemergency, or elective surgeries or procedures, and the practice by healthcare facilities of having patients prepay their out of pocket expenses for these. EMTALA does not apply in these instances.
You can get a CareCredit account and if paid off in the promo rate period (which can be up to 24 months) it's interest-free. If you screw up and don't pay in full by that date, you get dinged HARD for interest back to the date of the loan, but if you pay it off, you're fine. Check for CareCredit online. The card can even be used at the pharmacy for super high dollar meds.
Yeah, guess it's a little like buying furniture at Rooms To Go under the "no interest, no apartment for 26 months". You don't pay off the debt by the end of that 26 months, you'll be whacked good by super high interest rates on the amount you still owe.
People who can pay just refuse to sometimes. I see postings in other places advising on how to scam the system.
That's for sure. There are some people ( I have known a few) who seem to delight in getting away without paying a bill, not paying their fair share of combined expenses, or it seems, just knowing that they hoodwinked someone else into not getting what the person paid for, or cheating someone else out of something. They do this even though they can afford to pay what they owe.
Then there others who just drag their feet about paying any bill, seem resent any expectation that they will pay upfront for anything like medical expenses or other services ( too many,seems to me, think medical care should be free to them), and some who have to juggle their expenses to make ends meet and will postpone any payment indefinitely if there is no penalty for late payments.
And this is why there are penalties for late payments, ie, late charges, increases in interest rates, why billing department personnel are so insistent on getting their payments, and threats of collection agencies and repossession ( as applicable).
Have you ever actually asked a Hospital what a given procedure will cost?
This would come up a fair bit in the world High Deductible HI Policy holders and other cash payers.
So, a menu of procedure and treatments with prices? I'm in. But I smell a rat.
If it's entirely a cash transaction ( no insurance involved), the costs to the patient might well be significantly less than what would be billed to their insurance. I commented to an intake person in the ER of one of our local hospitals some years ago about a posted sign there that informed patients about discounts for medical services in the event they were uninsured or could not pay their deductibles. She told me they offered a 70% discount for services to patients who paid cash ( not insured) and payment plans, though the patients had to contact the billing department to request this and make arrangements for services.
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