Patients would change
providers for access to a payment plan, a key factors to addressing financial
experience and patient financial responsibility.
By Sara Heath
November 14, 2019
- Patient financial responsibility is becoming insurmountable, with more
patients than ever looking for healthcare providers that offer financing plans
and a streamlined financial experience, according to a new survey conducted by ORC International on
behalf of AccessOne.
The survey of nearly
1,000 patient respondents revealed that two in five consumers would switch
healthcare providers if it meant they could have access to financing and payment plans. Half of households with
children noted similar sentiments.
These figures are up
from last year, when only 33 percent patients and 43 percent of families said
the same.
These findings are
reflective of the impacts out-of-pocket healthcare costs can have on patients,
the researchers said. High health insurance coverage costs and patient
cost-sharing are increasingly presenting themselves to be key healthcare
barriers.
Health insurance
coverage costs, for example, have reached nearly $20,000 per family, equal to
the cost of an economy car. As a result, employers are shifting some of the
cost burden onto employees, a trend that can be crippling to patients.
Employees contribute
up to $6,000 for their family insurance plans, and those plans don’t even offer
great protection, the report authors suggested. Nearly half of all Americans
are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan, with deductibles reaching up to
$1,350 for individuals and $2,700 for families.
And because of those
high deductibles, patient financial responsibility is rising. Out-of-pocket
patient costs grew by 14 percent in 2018, and over half of survey respondents
said they spent at least $1,000 on medical care in the past 12 months.
Thirty-eight percent said they spent more than $2,500 on health bills.
Those rising costs
are the cause of considerable stress for patients.
Forty percent of
respondents said they do not know how they would cover a $500 medical bill,
highlighting the point at which healthcare costs become unbearable. Sixty
percent of respondents said they wouldn’t know how to cover a $1,000 bill.
Nearly one-fifth of patients said even a $250 medical bill would cause
financial stress.
These high costs are
impacting patient access to care, too. Fifty-six
percent of respondents said they delayed care because of financial concerns,
with nearly one-quarter of them saying they postponed necessary treatment for
at least a year.
But healthcare
providers are largely leaving patients out to dry, the survey continued. One in
five respondents said they do not understand the options for paying for their
medical care, while only 27 percent reported satisfaction with the healthcare
payment process.
Seventy-four percent
of respondents said they and their providers have not discussed payment plans or
financing options in the past two years.
As a result, the onus
is falling onto the patient, with many consumers finding their own ways to fund
their medical expenses that could be detrimental to their finances in the long
run.
Sixteen percent of
respondents said their accounts have been sent to collections and many others
are borrowing money to cover their expenses. Although only 4 percent of
respondents have taken out bank loans to cover healthcare bills, 18 percent
have put their balances on a credit card and 8 percent have borrowed money from
family or friends.
Three in five
patients are willing to shop around for care, and 38 percent are already doing
so, but the study did not discuss whether price shopping was actually fruitful
for any patients.
Nonetheless, patients
are demanding support from their providers as they work to understand their
healthcare finances. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said a provider’s
willingness to offer price transparency tools is a key
motivator when selecting a new clinician.
In fact, two in five
patients said they expect their clinician offices to post price transparency
information. Forty-two percent of patients with families and 43 percent of
millennials said price transparency is a baseline expectation.
Sixty-nine percent of
Gen X patients also said this, a significant demand considering many Gen X
patients are managing healthcare for their own families and their aging
parents.
Healthcare
organizations need to step up to the plate to create a more consumer-centered
financial experience, the survey authors suggested. Specifically, organizations
may consider:
·
Being clear about costs with price
transparency
·
Beginning conversations about
payments early on in the care process
·
Creating understandable and
patient-centered billing statements that clarify how much patients actually owe
·
Offering payment plans
·
Making the financial experience
seamless and easy for patient navigation
·
Offering self-service or online bill
payment options where applicable
Patient financial
responsibility is only expected to rise as healthcare payer models continue to
lean on cost-sharing and high-deductibles. Healthcare organizations need to
consider different factors of the patient financial experience that will help
improve their collections rates while emphasizing patient-centricity.
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