Patient Financial Responsibility

Massachusetts residents delay services due to high healthcare costs

March 21, 2024 - High healthcare costs are burdening Massachusetts residents, with many delaying care due to prices, according to a survey from Beacon Research commissioned by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Blue Cross). Between February 28 and March 6, 1,000 Massachusetts adults were interviewed via telephone or online about the healthcare issues they...


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SCAN, CareOregon Grants Help Eliminate $110M in Medical Debt

by Victoria Bailey

SCAN and CareOregon have granted $345,000 to a nonprofit organization that helps eliminate medical debt, a move expected to erase $110 million in debt for residents across five states. RIP Medical...

Healthcare Often Forces Patients to Make Financial Sacrifices

by Mark Melchionna

Many American adults make personal financial sacrifices and miss appointments to cope with the high costs of healthcare, according to a West Health-Gallup Poll.. Due to high and consistent costs,...

Most Payers Cover Member Costs for COVID-19 Testing, Treatment

by Emily Sokol, MPH

Health payers recognize the importance of COVID-19 testing and treatment to keep their members healthy and fight the pandemic. That is why a majority are covering the costs of testing and treatment...

Out-of-Pocket Costs for Supplemental Coverage a Problem for MA

by Samantha McGrail

More Medicare beneficiaries are accessing dental, vision, and hearing coverage through Medicare Advantage, but their plans are not getting adequate financial protections from out-of-pocket costs for...

High-Deductible Health Plans Are a Big Hit to Medication Adherence

by Samantha McGrail

Patients with diabetes enrolled on a high-deductible health plan have a hard time paying for their brand-name medications, having a negative impact on medication adherence, according to new data...

Texas Enacts Bill to Protect Consumers from Surprise Billing

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

On June 14, Texas joined the ranks of a score of states with consumer protections against surprise billing (or balance billing) with the signing of Senate Bill 1264. Effective this September, the bulk...

House Hearing Outlines Competing Solutions to Surprise Medical Bills

by Sara Heath

Legislation to address surprise medical bills must center on the patient, protecting patients from having to take part in mitigating extraordinarily high medical bills. Such was the conclusion of a...

CMS Seeks New State Waivers to Boost Individual Insurance Market

by Jessica Kent

CMS is issuing a request for information (RFI) asking states for ideas to develop State Relief and Empowerment Waivers to reduce costs in the individual insurance market. In a recent blog post, CMS...

GAO: 3 Largest Payers Hold 80% of Private Health Insurance Market

by Jessica Kent

The private health insurance market remains concentrated among a small number of payers, with the three largest companies holding 80 percent or more of the market, a recent GAO report found. Three or...

Affordability Concerns Lead Consumers to Short-Term Health Plans

by Jennifer Bresnick

Consumers are turning to short-term health plans primarily because they cannot afford other options, according to a new survey from insurance portal eHealth.com. Instead of using short-term plans to...

Marketing for Short-Term Health Plans May Mislead Consumers

by Jessica Kent

Websites and brokers that sell short-term health plans as a replacement for ACA-compliant coverage often fail to give consumers the detailed plan information necessary to inform their purchase,...

AHIP Urges “Careful Planning” of Health Reimbursement Arrangements

by Jennifer Bresnick

AHIP is cautioning federal regulators to move slowly and carefully when expanding the availability of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) as a more prominent means of paying for healthcare...

Insured Consumers Struggling With Prescription Drug Costs

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

Despite having access to health benefits, 40 percent or more of United States citizens have difficulty affording their prescription drugs. A GoodRx survey of 1,060 respondents about their...

Retail Clinics, Surprise Bills Changing Healthcare Purchasing Patterns

by Jennifer Bresnick

Consumers are changing the way they spend their healthcare dollars as the stress of surprise medical bills, coupled with new retail-style options, change the care delivery landscape. Two new consumer...

MD Health Insurance Exchange Rates Up Double-Digits for 2018

by Jesse Migneault

Patients in Maryland looking for insurance in 2018 may have bigger bills than they bargained for. The health insurance exchange rates for individual and group plans in the state have risen by up to 58...

Health Insurance Actuaries Propose Ways to Stabilize Market

by Jesse Migneault

A stable health insurance marketplace is good for payers and consumers. Speculation over potential payer mergers, repeal or modification of the ACA, and the future of high-risk and low income subsidy...

Why Payers Should Reduce Cost Sharing for High-Value Care

by Vera Gruessner

Today, more healthcare payers are positioning greater cost-sharing onto the consumers to keep from raising premium rates, according to commentary published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The 2016 National...

Payers Adopt Value-Based Care via Health Insurance Marketplace

by Vera Gruessner

The health insurance marketplace created through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has had a variety of success ever since its inception. This new model of healthcare coverage has provided...