Earlier this week, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shared some sobering news about medical debt in our country.
Two key findings:
In total, US consumers have at least $88 billion in past-due medical debt.
Who is most likely to be impacted by medical debt? Black people, Hispanic people, older people, veterans, and people in the Southeast and Southwest.
You might be wondering how we got to this point. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report has a quick explanation:
"Medical bill amounts can be unpredictable and often vary widely based on patient and provider characteristics. Uninsured and out-of-network patients are often charged prices that are much higher than what in-network insurers pay—even though the uninsured may have little ability to pay. The prices charged to uninsured and out-of-network patients sometimes significantly exceed providers’ costs. Markups are especially high for emergency care, and for-profit investor-owned hospitals charge higher average markups."
The full report can be read here.
Recognizing that the US situation is unique—nobody goes bankrupt over health care in Europe!—can be depressing, but it also reminds us that this is a solvable problem.
How will the Health Security Plan help?
Secure health coverage for New Mexicans will mean that patients don't get hit with large uninsured or out-of-network bills. No surprise billing, no balance billing, and lower costs overall . . . won't that be nice?
There are many reasons why continuing the Health Security Plan design process is critical. Tackling medical debt—and alleviating its devastating impact on New Mexicans' lives—is just one of them.