Hospitals report that patients are leaving their bills unpaid or struggling to understand their financial obligations, according to several recent reports.
Patients at the University of Alabama in Birmingham Hospital are finding it more difficult to pay their bills, a trend hospital administrators predict will continue in 2011, according to a Birmingham News report. Even so, the hospital predicts it will see an 18 percent drop in bad debts next year — because many patients unable to pay will move to the category of charity care.
In 2009, UAB lost $382.5 million to nonpaying customers — $212.9 million to bad debts and $169.6 million to charity care, based on bills issued.
The inability to pay may be partly due to patients failing to understand their insurance plans and hospital bills, according to a Post-Gazette report. Pittsburgh patients reported unexpected charges that left them financially strapped, including additional "facility fees" or higher charges for hospital outpatient visits.
According to the report, many patients don't understand their financial obligation before they undergo a procedure. One Pittsburgh patient was charged $4,000 for a hospital admission for the 24 hours he spent in UPMC Mercy for a swollen hand, though eventually he was told the injury was "only arthritis" and released.
Read the Birmingham News report on bad debts.
Read the Post-Gazette report on patient payment misunderstandings.
Read more on hospital finance:
-San Francisco Planning Commission to Review $25B California Pacific Medical Center Proposal
Patients at the University of Alabama in Birmingham Hospital are finding it more difficult to pay their bills, a trend hospital administrators predict will continue in 2011, according to a Birmingham News report. Even so, the hospital predicts it will see an 18 percent drop in bad debts next year — because many patients unable to pay will move to the category of charity care.
In 2009, UAB lost $382.5 million to nonpaying customers — $212.9 million to bad debts and $169.6 million to charity care, based on bills issued.
The inability to pay may be partly due to patients failing to understand their insurance plans and hospital bills, according to a Post-Gazette report. Pittsburgh patients reported unexpected charges that left them financially strapped, including additional "facility fees" or higher charges for hospital outpatient visits.
According to the report, many patients don't understand their financial obligation before they undergo a procedure. One Pittsburgh patient was charged $4,000 for a hospital admission for the 24 hours he spent in UPMC Mercy for a swollen hand, though eventually he was told the injury was "only arthritis" and released.
Read the Birmingham News report on bad debts.
Read the Post-Gazette report on patient payment misunderstandings.
Read more on hospital finance:
-San Francisco Planning Commission to Review $25B California Pacific Medical Center Proposal