Healthcare Financial News

The proportion of Americans in families with problems paying medical bills increased to 19.4 percent in 2007, up from 15.1 percent in 2003, according to a national study released Sept. 24 by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). The study’s findings are detailed in a new HSC tracking report, Trade-Offs Getting Tougher: Problems Paying Medical Bills Increase for U.S. Families, 2003-2007.

The growth translates to more than 57 million Americans in families with medical bill problems in 2007--an increase of 14 million people since 2003, according to findings from HSC’s 2007 Health Tracking Household Survey, a nationally representative survey with information on 18,000 people.

Among people who reported problems paying medical bills, more than half reported that their healthcare providers suggested a payment plan to pay off the bills. Less frequently reported actions included providers offering a discount (16.2 percent), informing patients about sources of free care (6.8 percent) and public assistance (14.6 percent), suggesting that patients take out a loan (11.5 percent), and referring patients to another provider (7.1 percent). Read the report.

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage this year--with employees on average paying $3,354 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost--and the scope of that coverage has changed, with many more workers now enrolled in high-deductible plans, according to the 2008 Employer Health Benefits Survey released Sept. 24 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET). Key findings from the survey were also published as a Health Affairs web exclusive.

The survey showed that premiums have more than doubled since 1999, when total family premiums stood at $5,791 (of which workers paid $1,543). During the same nine-year period, workers’ wages increased 34 percent and general inflation rose 29 percent.

The shift has been most dramatic for workers in small businesses with three to 199 workers, where 35 percent of covered workers must pay at least $1,000 out of pocket before their plan generally will start to pay a share of their healthcare bills--up from 21 percent last year. For workers facing deductibles in preferred provider organizations, the most common type of plan, the average deductible rose to $560 in 2008, up nearly $100 from 2007. Read the survey report.