How hospitals profit even when many patients are in medical debt

Some hospitals in Texas and around the US are seeing high profits, even as their bills force patients into debt.

The burden of medical debt in the United States

This brief analyzes data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to understand how many people have medical debt and how much ...

Is Hospital Market Concentration Related to Medical Debt?

Elevated costs can then be passed on to patients, likely increasing the chances that people incur medical debt. With fewer alternatives and ...

Medical debt soars for consumers with hospital credit cards - NPR

As Americans are overwhelmed with medical bills, patient financing is now a multibillion-dollar business, with private equity and big banks ...

Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

In part, those sacrifices are driven by hospitals' extraordinary collection practices. Hospitals refer patients to aggressive debt collectors, ...

How hospitals can help solve our medical debt crisis - Lown Institute

The high cost of hospital care — especially for uninsured patients or those with high-deductible plans — is one of the big drivers of medical ...

The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States - KFF

... money for medical bills and how much they owe. The report also ... How Affordability of Health Care Varies by Income among People with Employer ...

Most adults with medical debt owe some of it to hospitals, study finds

The Urban Institute study found that 73% of adults with medical debt owe hospitals at least some of it. Additionally, most of patients' largest ...

Medical Debt and Non-Profit Hospital Billing Practices

Evidence suggests that many patients who are eligible for financial assistance under existing hospital policies don't receive it. An analysis of ...

Most Adults with Past-Due Medical Debt Owe Money to Hospitals

But hospitals set their own eligibility criteria, and many patients who likely qualify for charity care do not receive it, with some facing aggressive debt ...

How Medical Debt Makes People Sicker — and What We Can Do ...

A proposal that removes medical bills from consumers' credit reports could have far-reaching implications in improving the health of many ...

What do Break-even Hospital Margins Mean for Patient Care?

The recent median margin data also mean that essentially half of hospitals and health systems are still operating at a financial loss, with many ...

For Hospitals, 'Nonprofit' Doesn't Mean 'Charitable' - Time

Instead, many nonprofit health systems employ aggressive collections procedures that prioritize profits over people. And while some see them ...

100 million people in America are saddled with medical debt

About 1 in 6 adults are paying off a medical or dental bill they put on a card. How much medical debt Americans have in total is hard to know ...

Health Care Debt In The U.S.: The Broad Consequences Of Medical ...

Half of adults with health care debt say bills from emergency care (50%) caused their debt, again highlighting how one-time acute medical events ...

State Protections Against Medical Debt - Commonwealth Fund

Bad debt: Patient bills that a hospital has tried to collect on and failed. Typically, hospitals are not supposed to pursue collections for ...

Nonprofit Hospitals Pursue Aggressive Medical Debt Collection

Another tactic increasingly employed by hospitals involves partnerships with third-party for-profit lending and collection companies that offer ...

Medical Debt, Money, and Mental Health

Many people shared how they are forced to draw upon their personal networks, credit cards, or loans to make payments; specifically, patients are quick to ...

Inadequate Health Insurance Coverage Drives Medical Debt

Remove providers from the collection of cost-sharing altogether by requiring health plans, which are the entity determining how much their ...

Study finds medical debt relief doesn't always work

It's not just governments that think medical debt relief holds promise: Private donors are financing the purchase of outstanding medical debts ...