More states are imposing new limits on hospital billing practices, making fresh attempts to help patients avoid heavy medical debts.
At least 10 states, including Connecticut, Maryland, New Mexico and Maine, enacted laws last year with a range of provisions affecting healthcare providers and collection agencies, including requirements for hospitals to provide financial assistance to people with low incomes or limit aggressive debt-collection practices.
Other states, including Washington and Vermont, are currently considering bills to add or bolster consumer medical-billing protections.The activity is a sign of the heightened scrutiny that hospitals are facing after reports about bare-knuckle tactics used to collect on medical debts and after some facilities' own disclosures of high prices and limited financial assistance for certain patients.
Upon facing declining revenue prospects, physicians are shuttering their private, independent practices to partner up with larger hospitals that have near-monopolies on care in the regions they serve.
The healthcare debt gap continues to disproportionately impact people of color, especially those in low-income communities. Insurance company Aflac and former NFL star, now head football coach for Jackson State University, Deion Sanders are working together to minimize that.
To address overwhelming medical disparities in America, Aflac, in collaboration with brand ambassador Sanders, launched a national initiative called Close the Gap. The initiative aims to support, educate and advocate for people who fall in the gap where health insurance ends and medical bills begin to pile up.
Despite protests from doctor and provider groups, applying the median in-network rate in billing disputes is a simple remedy to the messy, behind-the-scenes health care billing game.
The law was Intended to protect patients from surprise medical bills and establish a balanced process for health plans and physicians to resolve out-of-network payment disputes. The California Medical Association (CMA) believes that as written it will increase health care costs and reduce access to care for patients.
Medical bills often represent large, unexpected shocks that can crash personal budgets. Roughly 1 in 7 U.S. residents with a credit record has medical debt in collections, according to the nonprofit Urban Institute.