WASHINGTON — A two-year study has revealed that 100 million Americans are drowning in debt, with a major contributor being medical bills. A study done in partnership between KFF Health News and National Public Radio, called “Diagnosis: Debt” reveals the scale, impact, and causes of medical debt.
“Across the country, Americans are losing their homes, emptying their retirement accounts, and struggling to feed and clothe their families because of medical debt,” the study says.
“Lots of people think they’ll be fine if they have health insurance, but they later find out that they’re stuck with costs that are not covered, high deductibles and endless red tape,” says Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (Alliance.org) Executive Director Katy Talento.
“This underscores the advantages of Health Care Sharing Ministries, which include the sharing of the community’s medical bills, encouragement of other members, and often, sharing of bills arising from some health options not usually covered by insurance, such as chiropractic, holistic care, or experimental treatments.
“In addition, health care sharing ministries don’t share expenses for abortions, gender transitions or other unbiblical practices, so the members know they are not complicit in immoral activities.”
The new study is based on “original polling by KFF, court records, federal data on hospital finances, contracts obtained through public records requests, data on international health systems, and a yearlong investigation into the financial assistance and collection policies of more than 500 hospitals across the country.”
Several other entities also contributed data. The Urban Institute analyzed credit bureau and other demographic information on poverty, race and health status to determine where medical debt is concentrated and contributing factors.
The JPMorgan Chase Institute analyzed a sampling of Chase credit card holders. And the CED Project, a Denver nonprofit, surveyed its clients to explore links between medical debt and housing instability.
On December 10, NPR ran a segment about the research, “The Sunday Story: The Unbearable Weight of Medical Debt,” in which host Ayesha Rascoe interviewed KFF Health News’s Noam Levey and Yuki Noguchi.
“More than 100 million people in the U.S. are saddled with some kind of health care debt, often forcing them to make heart-wrenching sacrifices,” Mr. Levey said.
“But the truth is that vastly understates kind of how big this problem is. Because a lot of people, when they get their medical bills or their dental bills, they’re putting it on a credit card, and then they don’t pay the credit card off. And the credit card debt lingers for maybe years at a time.
“Well, that’s not technically medical debt. It’s credit card debt. But it comes from a medical bill.
“Same thing with a payment plan. Increasingly, a lot of patients go on these payment plans with a hospital or a doctor, and they’re paying hundreds of dollars a month for, like, three or four years. Or maybe they borrow money from a bank or a payday lender or friends or family, and they’re in debt to pay off this medical bill, but it doesn’t actually get recorded as medical debt.
“And when you put that all together, that’s how you get 100 million people.”
“I’d like to say we were surprised by the breadth of the problem, but we’re not,” Talento says. “Health Care Sharing Ministries save money for members who pay in cash, often at lower rates than those charged to insured patients. Many doctors favor direct payments because it saves them time and money and so they charge patients less.
“Health Care Sharing Ministries should not be confused with health insurance,” Talento adds. “When members go to a doctor or hospital or incur a medical cost, they submit the bill to their community through the ministry. Health Care Sharing Ministry staff can also help patients navigate the medical system and negotiate lower prices. Ministry chaplains are available to pray with members.
“One thing that has helped in recent years is a federal law requiring hospitals to post their prices online,” she said. “Although many still are not yet in compliance, the overall impact has been to increase transparency, which is starting to assist patients.
“Health care sharing is an appealing alternative that saves money, leads to better care and more medical freedom,” Talento concludes. “Christians don’t have to face delays that can hurt their health and finances, nor do they have to be part of a system paying for abortion and other unbiblical practices.”
Since 1981, Health Care Sharing Ministries operating in all 50 states have given patients an alternative to health insurance, facilitating the sharing of billions of dollars in medical expenses for their members.
The Alliance represents the majority of large, federally recognized Health Care Sharing Ministries and two-thirds of the more than a million members nationwide. Alliance member ministries have been certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as meeting the federal definition of Health Care Sharing Ministries in the Affordable Care Act.
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries is a 501(c)(6) trade organization representing the common interests of Health Care Sharing Ministries which are facilitating the sharing of health care needs (financial, emotional, and spiritual) by individuals and families, and their participants. The Alliance engages with federal and state regulators, members of the media, and the Christian community to provide accurate and timely information on health care sharing.
To learn more about the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, visit www.ahcsm.org or follow the ministry on Facebook or Twitter.
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To interview a representative from The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105.
To interview a representative from The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105.