Surprise medical bills from out-of-network healthcare providers continue to hit New Jersey residents as the state eyes potential reform to address the issue, according to the 2017 New Jersey Health & Well-Being Poll.
The poll, designed and analyzed by researchers at the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, asked 1,052 New Jersey adults about surprise medical billing. It was conducted by Abt Associates from Oct. 12 through Nov. 19, 2017.
Four findings from the poll:
1. Fourteen percent of New Jersey adults, or about 1 in 7, said they or their family were surprised in the last year to receive what they consider a "large medical bill" from a physician or other healthcare provider they did not select themselves. This means about 428,743 New Jersey families received such a bill in a year's time.
2. Women were more likely than men to report receiving surprise medical bills (18 percent vs. 10 percent). Nonwhites, low-income families, adults age 30-49 and those reporting fair or poor health were also more likely to receive such bills.
3. Insurance status did not play a significant role in the likelihood of adults in New Jersey receiving surprise medical bills. Fifteen percent of respondents with public insurance said they received a surprise medical bill, which is only slightly higher than the uninsured (14 percent) or those with private insurance (14 percent).
4. Forty-three percent of respondents with public or private insurance said they received surprise medical bills from a physician or other healthcare provider outside their insurance network.
More information about the poll is available here.
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