Quote:
Originally Posted by TNLAKEPANDA
A $10,000 deductible before ACA Was unheard of. Basically the insurance company is at minimal if any risk at all.
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Patients are more at risk with these forced high deductibles, because the
responsible newly insureds are now are
not going to the doctor (if they could get one with their new insurance card but no dr. that can take more patients) nor to the ER when sick or in need of preventative care, because they do not have the cash up front to pay these bills while raising a family on a $60,000 household income and are trying to pay insurance premiums of $1100/month.
It also puts the hospitals and providers at
more risk of uncollectible debt and insolvency,
because more people now have a $5,000 - $12,000 deductible they don't have the money to pay when they absolutely HAVE TO go to the ER for a true emergency when they've not yet met their deductible.... to get some use out of the $1100/month premiums they're trying to pay!
Unpaid and uncollectible debt was a problem
before the ACA changes, and now
the high deductibles many insured people have are causing even more unpaid bills/uncollectible debt to hospitals and providers:
2011 - On average, uninsured families can pay only about 12% of their hospital bills in full.
Families with incomes above 400% of the poverty level, or about $88,000 a year for a family of four, pay about 37% of their hospital bills in full, according to the Department of Health and Human Services study.
Patients going without care because of high deductibles:
Example excerpt:
"Surgeon Paul Ruggieri of Fall River, Mass., says his patients with high-deductible plans often blanch at the out-of-pocket cost to electively treat two common ailments he sees regularly — gallstones and hernias — until they become potentially dangerous and costly emergencies.
If the procedures are done electively, patients are required to pay half of the cost upfront; a hernia repair done laparoscopically would cost about $4,000 at a surgery center. That's often about the amount of some patients' deductibles, so they would have to pay the full bill out-of-pocket. If the procedure is done at a hospital, even laparoscopically, it can cost as much as $17,000. If patients delay and are rushed to the emergency room for the procedure, the hospital would charge at least two to three times the amount of the surgery, Ruggieri says. It would also mean a two- to three-day hospital stay vs. two hours for the elective procedure, and much longer at-home recuperation.
Jan. 1, 2015
Dilemma over deductibles: Costs crippling middle class
Up to $49 billion unpaid by uninsured for hospitalizations - USATODAY.com
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