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MEDICAL BILLING NEWS
Keep abreast of news and information on medical billing and its impact on patients and consumers.
Archive September, 2023
Companies offer credit cards and installment loans specifically for medical debt. Here’s why it’s risky to use credit to pay any medical bill, and what to do instead.
- Consumer Reports
Private equity-backed staffing companies are fighting No Surprises Act, which protects patients from unexpected out-of-network bills
- The Guardian
A breast cancer patient discovered firsthand how the cost of health care can vary dramatically depending on where you live.
- NPR
When it comes to healthcare, “nonprofit” is far from synonymous with “charity.”
- Time
In a medical emergency, you want to get to a hospital as quickly as possible. But what happens when the cost of that transportation is hundreds or thousands of dollars, even with insurance? NewsHour health reporter Laura Santhanam joins Ali Rogin to discuss how a legal loophole is creating a dangerous dilemma for families across the country.
- PBS News Hour
A relatively new source of rising health care costs is causing concern among physicians like me. Large health systems are buying up independent physician practices left and right. The doctors continue to provide the same health care services, usually in exactly the same place. But then they charge more for those services.
- Houston Chronicle
The Biden administration announced a major initiative to protect Americans from medical debt on Thursday, outlining plans to develop federal rules barring unpaid medical bills from affecting patients' credit scores.
- NPR
Hospital health care prices were all over the map in a study by researchers who used a secret shopper approach to inquire about costs of births and brain scans.
- Medical Economics
Rising healthcare expenses, lack of certainty over costs and financial support and poor coordination between providers and payers have caused consumers to feel more stressed than ever before about their healthcare bills.
- HIT Consultant
You can take steps or ask questions of medical providers or your insurance company to avoid overpaying or getting saddled with charges you can’t afford to pay from a medical bill.
- CNBC
- Delaware Public Media
New law can spare Texans of that shock and give some certainty.
- Dallas Morning News
Only actual hospital prices, displayed as dollars and cents, not estimates, formulas, or algorithms, protect patients from outrageous bills and hold hospitals accountable for overcharges, errors, and fraud.
- MedCity News
It’s time to change the status quo and make health care more affordable
- U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee
Opinion by Bill Schubart
- VTDigger
- KFF Health News
Some insurance companies don’t have in-network ambulance providers, which can mean big bills for patients
- InvestigateTV
Medical debt has ballooned in the US in recent decades. Hospitals and collection agencies are making a killing on it, eroding trust in the health care system and leading countless patients into financial ruin in the process.
- Jacobin
Since 2019, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has sued more than 8,000 patients to collect on unpaid medical bills, according to court records. It filed more debt collection lawsuits in recent years than any other plaintiff in the Arkansas court system other than the state tax office.
- CNN
- The Center Square
The credit cards, which can promise patients deceptive no- or low-interest rates, are increasingly being offered in hospitals and physician offices, a PIRG report said.
- Payments Dive
When he couldn't get an explanation for some of the charges on his daughter's medical bills, Christian Ard took UCSF Health to small claims court—and won.
- The San Francisco Standard
Facilities and insurers would be compelled to publicly list the prices they charge patients, and require PBMs to disclose rebates and discounts.
- Healthcare Finance
Hospital trade groups say mergers can save failing hospitals, especially rural ones. But research shows that a lack of competition often leads to fewer services at higher costs
- Missouri Independent
Telehealth is massively expanding, making it easier for people to connect with medical care. But one Taylorsville woman says she hit a snag when she got a big bill for her telehealth visit, all because her doctor wasn’t based in Utah.
- KSL TV5
Medical credit cards have proliferated in health care offices across the nation. Yet these cards come with some serious downsides that experts say could cost you dearly.
- CBS News
- Yahoo
Some of the most aggressive and widespread debt collection tactics in the United States are those taken on behalf of nonprofit hospitals. Increasingly, these hospitals, granted tax exempt status partly because of the benefits to society they purport to convey, are teaming up with for-profit debt collection companies and employing some of the most notorious tactics, from aggressive phone calls to lawsuits and wage garnishments.
- NPQ
Independent doctor's offices and clinics aren't allowed to charge a separate facility fee, but hospitals can. If your doctor uses a hospital-owned exam room to see you, the hospital might send you their own bill.
- The Oklahoman
Effective Sept. 1, hospitals and health care facilities in Texas are required to give patients a written itemized bill before sending it to collections or trying to collect any money owed.
- KXAN
- Utah Public Radio