Rising Patient Bad Debt Levels Reported by Hospitals and Clinical Pathology Laboratories
Blame it on employers requiring higher deductibles of employees, often starting at $1,500 per year
Employers continue to increase the amount of deductibles and co-pays in their health benefit plans. This has a direct consequence for clinical laboratories and pathology groups, because it often creates the need to collect more money from patients at the time of service.
A recent survey showed that employers are changing health benefit plans to require workers to pay more money for both insurance coverage and medical care, a story in Modern Healthcare reported. Among such changes to employer-sponsored health plans are higher deductibles, higher premiums, greater employee liability for cost of care, and greater responsibility for health-impacting lifestyle choices.
(more…)
