{"id":36099,"date":"2022-10-16T11:33:10","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T11:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/americans-are-drowning-in-medical-debt-heres-how-our-leaders-can-help\/"},"modified":"2022-10-16T11:33:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T11:33:10","slug":"americans-are-drowning-in-medical-debt-heres-how-our-leaders-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/americans-are-drowning-in-medical-debt-heres-how-our-leaders-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans are drowning in medical debt. Here\u2019s how our leaders can help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Today, more than <a href=\"https:\/\/khn.org\/news\/article\/diagnosis-debt-investigation-100-million-americans-hidden-medical-debt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">100 million Americans<\/a> are living with medical debt totaling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/americans-medical-debt-credit-score-prevents-care-kaiser-family-foundation-2022-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nearly $200 billion<\/a>. A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/09\/19\/medical-debt-risks-health-housing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> found this debt leads to increased rates of eviction, food insecurity and bad health outcomes, regardless of health insurance status or income. While the debt is widespread, it is also unevenly distributed; patients of color disproportionately <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/americans-medical-debt-credit-score-prevents-care-kaiser-family-foundation-2022-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bear its burden<\/a>. This is a story we\u2019ve heard too many times before, and it\u2019s time for our nation\u2019s leaders to take action.<\/p>\n<p>This month, Consumers for Quality Care (CQC) has marked Health Literacy Month by educating consumers about medical debt and what they can do to avoid falling victim to this problem. Congress and the Biden administration can implement commonsense reforms to help prevent Americans from sinking further into medical debt.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Congress sought to tackle a major source of medical debt \u2014 surprise medical bills \u2014 in 2021. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/nosurprises\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">No Surprises Act<\/a> protects patients from receiving a bill when they are unknowingly treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility. However, a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcaredive.com\/news\/americans-still-receiving-surprise-medical-bills\/626851\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey found<\/a> that 20 percent of patients have continued to receive surprise bills since the law went into effect earlier this year. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2022\/03\/08\/surprise-billing-glaring-gap-lab-tests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Soung Luy,<\/a> for example, was stuck with a surprise bill after he got blood work from a lab he was directed to by his in-network doctor\u2019s office. The lab was in the same building but out-of-network.<\/p>\n<p>Congress also took on prescription drug costs in this year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/5376\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Inflation Reduction Act<\/a>. Now it\u2019s time for legislators and regulators to address other cost drivers in the health care ecosystem, such as the lack of transparency in hospital pricing, the lack of standards to ensure nonprofit hospitals deliver on their commitment to patients and communities, and health insurance practices that shift high out-of-pocket costs back to patients.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s impossible to plan for bills when you don\u2019t know what the cost of medical visits, treatments or procedures will be, and too often patients are forced to make a choice between not getting care or risking a potentially astronomical medical bill. All Americans should be able to shop smart for the care they need, but just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcaredive.com\/news\/hospitals-price-transparency-law-patient-rights-advocate\/629300\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">16 percent of hospitals<\/a> nationwide were found to be in full compliance with a federal price transparency law. Regulators must hold hospitals accountable for failing to comply.<\/p>\n<p>Many of America\u2019s hospitals are nonprofits, meaning they are organized as charities, and in return for significant tax breaks, they are legally obligated to deliver affordable care in their communities. However, there are no federal standards against which charity care is measured. U.S. hospitals routinely <a href=\"https:\/\/khn.org\/news\/patients-eligible-for-charity-care-instead-get-big-bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fail to inform patients<\/a> they could be eligible for charity care and are sending medical bills to low-income patients who qualify for charity care \u2014 creating more medical debt for those who can least afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Choosing the wrong insurance plan can also lead to crushing medical debt. The steady rise of plans with high deductibles, coinsurance, and copays that typically have lower premiums means patients seeking care are often left with large bills from the plans\u2019 high out-of-pocket costs. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2018-06-26\/sky-high-deductibles-broke-the-u-s-health-insurance-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Carla and John Jordan<\/a> had a high-deductible plan, and after a series of medical crises, they could not afford to meet their deductible and went into bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>Short-term limited duration insurance plans (STLDI plans) \u2014 also known as \u201cjunk plans\u201d \u2014 are exempt from many Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements and can exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, have dollar value limits on covered services, and are not required to cover preventive services, among other substantial risks for consumers. The Trump administration issued a rule expanding the maximum period for which STLDI plans can be offered from three months to a year, with a possibility of being renewed for up to 36 months, causing junk plans to proliferate. The Biden administration so far has failed to crack down on these barebones, inadequate health plans.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<aside class=\"thehill-promo-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/criminal-justice\/3689883-i-advocated-full-legalization-i-was-wrong\/\" class=\"thehill-promo-link__link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\tI advocated full legalization; I was wrong\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/healthcare\/3689872-opportunities-for-biden-and-congress-to-combat-the-overdose-crisis-right-now\/\" class=\"thehill-promo-link__link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\tOpportunities for Biden and Congress to combat the overdose crisis right now\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>Americans with chronic diseases best treated with prescription medications also should be careful about which insurance plan they select. Copay adjustment \u2014 or accumulator adjustment \u2014 programs (CAAPs) allow insurers to prevent drug cost-sharing coupons from counting towards patients\u2019 deductibles or caps on total out-of-pocket costs, leaving them with unexpected costs at the pharmacy counter when their coupons run out. Annabelle Gurwitch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/outlook\/2022\/09\/09\/insurance-copay-specialty-medications-cancer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">relied on copay assistance<\/a> to afford her cancer medication, and when her insurer contracted with a CAAP, her copay assistance no longer applied to her deductible, leaving her to foot a significant bill for her medication. Unfortunately, the Biden administration reversed a federal rule that would have put a stop to this bad insurer practice.<\/p>\n<p>As consumers head into ACA open enrollment on the heels of Health Literacy Month, they must carefully examine their options for coverage so they can make the best possible decision for themselves and their families and mitigate the risk of falling into medical debt. But the burden shouldn\u2019t be shouldered by patients alone. All policymakers \u2014 especially federal lawmakers and regulators \u2014 must address the root causes of medical debt to ensure every American can access quality, affordable health care.<\/p>\n<p><em>James P. Manley is a Democratic communicator with more than two decades of experience working in Congress. He served as senior communications adviser and spokesman for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the Senate Democratic Caucus. He is on the board of directors of <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/consumers4qualitycare.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Consumers for Quality Care<\/em><\/a><em>. Follow him at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamespmanley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>@jamespmanley<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/healthcare\/3687384-americans-are-drowning-in-medical-debt-heres-how-our-leaders-can-help\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, more than 100 million Americans are living with medical debt totaling nearly $200 billion. A recent study found this debt leads to increased rates of eviction, food insecurity and bad health outcomes, regardless of health insurance status or income. While the debt is widespread, it is also unevenly distributed; patients of color disproportionately bear &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36099"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}