Americans continue to struggle to pay their medical bills, and even the 2010 health care overhaul may not ease their financial burden.
A new survey from the Center for Studying Health System Change and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows the percentage of American families having difficulty paying their medical bills did not increase from 2007 to 2010, despite the economic downturn during that period. But the proportion with medical bill-paying difficulty in 2010 was more than one-third higher than in a similar survey in 2003. Overall, the national study shows that one in five Americans reported trouble paying medical bills last year.
One of the co-authors of the study, Anna Sommers, says these proportions, while dramatic, aren’t that surprising considering the way consumers spend money in a downturn economy. “During a recession we expect [people] to have more medical debt, more medical bill problems, but we have to remember there are recessionary effects on health care spending and health care prices. When income falls, there is a lower demand for health care. Economics tells us that more income yields more demand for health care. So when people have less disposable income, there is less of a demand for health care.”
Those with the most medical billing problems fell in low- to middle-income levels and averaged around $6,500 in medical debt. More than half of those families paid off “none or little” of their medical bills and said that it will take more than a year to pay off their debt. More than 17 percent of people with medical debt expect it will take longer than five years to pay off.
Employer-sponsored insurance coverage doesn’t make a dent, according to Sommers. “Many of these folks who’ve been hit by medical debt have employer-sponsored health insurance,” Sommers says. “And these people will not be eligible for subsidies to purchase private health insurance through the new state health exchanges, because you only qualify if you don’t have employer-sponsored health insurance.” The only other way people with employer-sponsored insurance will be able to participate in the health exchanges is if their premiums are more than 9.5 percent of their income. Even then, Sommers says, the health care law may not help this group. Families under 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) will stay in a gray area — not quite qualified for subsidies in the health care exchanges and not quite qualified for the expanded Medicaid coverage for those below 138 percent of the FPL.
Older Americans who qualify for Medicare are also feeling the pinch. The study notes, “Compared with younger people, medical bill problems typically have been much lower among people aged 65 and older, despite higher out-of-pocket spending because of elderly people’s greater health care needs. Marking a significant upward trend, the proportion of elderly people with medical bill problems rose from 6.9 percent in 2003 to 10.3 percent in 2010.”
This study is featured in our weekly Research Roundup along with other health care studies and reports.
This article was updated to correct the information on seniors and income.
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What do Republicans think we should do about the problem of one in five Americans juggling medical bills? Well, they say we should repeal Obamacare but when asked what would replace it, Republicans don’t know and don’t really care.
Happy Holidays From the GOP!
Let the peasants eat cake!
It’s no surprise than Americans are struggling to pay for healthcare expenses. While the underwriting profits of health insurance companies are evidence that the demand for healthcare decreases during challenging economic times, it’s just a temporary situation.
While the new healthcare law of 2010 expanded access to health insurance, it did not address many of the underlying reasons why healthcare is so expensive. Americans will continue to enjoy skyrocketing healthcare costs and health plan premiums until we tackle the primary cost drivers.
“it did not address many of the underlying reasons why healthcare is so expensive”…
Health care in America is a capitalists dream come true. It’s a pure example of capitalism run amuck! The entire industry owns the United States Congress. Members of Congress need to get re-elected. Consumers can’t do that. Only corporations can do that with huge injections of money into campaign funding. Today’s health care is about profits and the consumer be dammed! Average Americans need to stand up and “Occupy Health Care”. Average consumers need to take back control of health care in America. Republicans will label any “Occupy Health Care” movement as socialism and communism. Those are their prime talking points. Those are their scare tactics. Yet, while health care related corporations rake in huge profits, over 50 million Americans are priced out of the health care market and another 25 million more are underinsured. We, as consumers, need to stop listening to their lies and begin the process of taking back control of an industry that affects life and death issues for each and every American. Consumers didn’t ruin our health care system. Corporations and their greed and outrageous profits did! My members of Congress are going to hear it loud and clear in 2012. If they continue to sell their souls to AHIP and the AMA and the AHA and PhRMA, they will not get my support. In fact, I will work as hard as I can to make sure they are defeated. My Congressman voted for the Ryan 2012 Budget plan that ends traditional Medicare. Guess what’s going to happen to him come November 2012? Senior citizens in his district are keenly focused on a mission. They are on the warpath. He has no hope of re-election in November because he voted for the Ryan 2012 Budget plan. He hates Medicare and proved it with that vote. I hope those reading this post do the same thing. Find out how you Congressman voted on the Ryan 2012 Budget. If he/she voted in favor of the Ryan plan, you show begin the process to organize and effort to defeat him/her in the November 2012 election. It’s not about socialism, it’s about the survival of average working people! It’s about ending the ruthless control of the wealthy few.
Since Republicans like Clean Coal Technology so much, I hope they all got a few lumps in their stocking for Christmas for their neanderthal position to repeal Obamacare and replace it with absolutely nothing. Talk about the grinch that stole Christmas? The GOP takes the award. Bah, humbug!
Medicare Part D went into effect on January 1, 2006. It was enacted as a fully unfunded program. It went into effect under a a GOP President and a GOP controlled House and a GOP controlled Senate. The never addressed funding in any way. They crafted it so that drug prices would never be negotiated and so Seniors would pay “full price” for their medicines. The VA and TriCare, military and veteran related medical programs, both negotiate for their drug prices and use their huge buying power to get huge discounts. The same is true with Canada and other foreign countries. They all negotiate their purchases of drugs by leveraging their buying power into any purchases. Not Medicare Part D! Medicare is the only government program worldwide that is forced, by law, to pay full retail prices for their drugs. Is there something wrong with this picture? I thought Republicans were for competition in the market place? Fixing drug prices and prohibiting negotiations for the lowest price isn’t competition, is it? That sounds more like collusion, huh? That isn’t the American way, is it? I understand that the Tea Party defends the law to not allow negotiations for lower drug prices, is that true?