Struggling to Pay Hi OOP Medical Bills

[somarco]

“There’s been an assumption that if you have insurance, you have the ability to pay,” said James McHugh, a managing director at the health consulting firm Navigant. “But that’s not necessarily true anymore. There is this whole new bucket of patient debt, and hospitals aren’t sure how to deal with it.”

With Medical Bills Skyrocketing, More Hospitals Are Suing for Payment

If working poor are struggling to pay down $2500 in medical bills how much more difficult is it for seniors on a fixed income?

 

[vic120]

“There’s been an assumption that if you have insurance, you have the ability to pay,” said James McHugh, a managing director at the health consulting firm Navigant. “But that’s not necessarily true anymore. There is this whole new bucket of patient debt, and hospitals aren’t sure how to deal with it.”

With Medical Bills Skyrocketing, More Hospitals Are Suing for Payment

If working poor are struggling to pay down $2500 in medical bills how much more difficult is it for seniors on a fixed income?

Only thing is many of the deductibles Under 65 are a lot more than $2500 anymore and the premiums are very high too

This year and next My deductibles will be $6500 per person 2 deductible per family plus another I think $1500 maybe more in coinsurance with over $13K in premiums

Ive meet out of pocket this year and will again next year, My son is autistic meets his out of pocket in Feb just on ABA alone

I have sleep machine and xerelto Anything extra I do Doctors and what not and if anyone else in the family does anything we meet the other half as well

Insurance is insane U65 now

 

[axeman462]

Only thing is many of the deductibles Under 65 are a lot more than $2500 anymore and the premiums are very high too

This year and next My deductibles will be $6500 per person 2 deductible per family plus another I think $1500 maybe more in coinsurance with over $13K in premiums

Ive meet out of pocket this year and will again next year, My son is autistic meets his out of pocket in Feb just on ABA alone

I have sleep machine and xerelto Anything extra I do Doctors and what not and if anyone else in the family does anything we meet the other half as well

Insurance is insane U65 now

Yup, I have Freedom Health (US Health Group) insurance. If I were to get "traditional" Insurance, it would be $1,200/mo (more than my mortgage), with a deductible of something like like $7,000. (For my family of 3)

Freedom only costs us about $420/mo. Its basically catstrophic. I would prefer a "traditional" plan, that is compatible with an HSA, if it had a reasonable monthly premium, but they dont exist

 

[Yagents]

Ummm.....define catastrophic. You don't own that in my definition

 

[somarco]

Ummm.....define catastrophic. You don't own that in my definition

True.

Some folks, especially those living on SS alone with little if any savings, will find an unexpected bill of $500 to be catastrophic.


Median total debt for older adult households with debt was $31,300 in 2016

medical debt poses the most significant barrier to economic well-being.

A study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine revealed that out-of-pocket medical expenditures in the five years prior to an individual’s death totaled more than $38,000, leaving 1 in 4 seniors approaching bankruptcy.

29.2% of older adult households owed money on a mortgage, home equity line of credit, or both. Of these, the median money owed was $68,500.

Senior Debt Facts