Patient Payment Responsibility up 13% in One Year - Seite 2

TransUnion's analysis found that patients in the subprime risk tier, generally the highest-risk consumers with a VantageScore 3.0 of 600 or below, are in an even more perilous position. As of Q1 2016, these patients only had $420 in revolving credit for every $100 in healthcare costs. In Q1 2015, these same patients had $600.

TransUnion Healthcare Cost Ratio (Q1 2014 - Q1 2016)
For Every $100 in Healthcare Costs, Consumers Had the Following Revolving Credit
to Potentially Make Those Payments

Consumers/Year		Q1 2014		Q1 2015		Q1 2016
All Consumers		$2,310		$2,250		$1,720
Subprime Consumers		$660		$600		$420

"Our findings emphatically demonstrate that despite the advent of the Affordable Care Act, more patients are struggling to pay their healthcare costs," said Gerry McCarthy, president of TransUnion Healthcare. "In fact, patient payment responsibility continues to rise even as they have less available credit to make their healthcare payments. It's a precarious position for consumers and healthcare providers alike, but fortunately many hospitals are beginning to implement new technologies that can help alleviate some of these issues now and in the future."

With millions of dollars of unpaid medical bills, many hospitals are instituting new processes to recover monies owed to them. TransUnion Healthcare's insurance discovery solution, eScan, has helped hospitals, health systems and physician offices recover more than $1.2 billion in insurance payments. Previously, hospitals would have categorized this money as bad debt or charity care, which are known as uncompensated care. "An indication that healthcare providers are beginning to implement new, innovative processes to receive healthcare payments can be observed by the fact that $700 million of the $1.2 billon recovered dollars has occurred in just the last three years," added McCarthy.