How covered are you? Study finds the insured facing mounting medical debt
Case Management Weekly, March 28, 2007
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An increasing number of individuals are incurring medical debts, despite having health insurance coverage, according to a study released by the Access Project, an advocacy group that researches medical debt. Health insurance copayments and deductibles, along with difficult-to-understand policies and billing practices, are blamed for the increase.
For the study, researches examined 45 people in seven states who accrued medical debt despite having health insurance. About two-thirds of participants attributed their medical debt in part to health insurance premiums, deductibles, and copays, the study found.
The study also found other factors associated with medical debt were annual lifetime caps on benefits, extra charges for out of network care, and complex billing systems by insurers and hospitals that left patients confused about what they owed.
The study comes as policymakers, insurers, and employers have been touting higher annual deductible polices as one way to control healthcare spending.
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