Tag Archives: debt

Health Insurance

Health Insurance A Cause Of Past-Due Debt?

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credit-card-2A study of past-due medical debt by Michael Karpman and Kyle J. Kaswell of the Urban Institute demonstrates the expansion of coverage subsequent to the Affordable Care Act is associated with a reduction in the proportion of adults with past-due medical debt.

In 2012, 29.6 percent of U.S. adults had past-due medical debt, versus just 23.8 percent in 2015. The study does not define “past-due,” nor the average amount of medical debt that is past-due. However, it cites research that almost half of debt in collections is owed to hospitals and other providers.

Although health insurance is supposed to protect us from such a situation, it often does not. Among insured people, 26.6 percent had past-due medical debt in 2012, versus 22.8 percent in 2015. However, among uninsured people it declined more: 39.8 percent in 2012, versus 30.5 percent in 2015. What to make of this? Continue reading Health Insurance A Cause Of Past-Due Debt? →

Health Care Costs

The Real Lesson of John Oliver’s Medical Debt Forgiveness Stunt

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money-burdenLate-night TV host John Oliver recently caused a stir by attacking debt collectors in a clever way. He set up his own collection agency, bought $15 million of medical bad debt, and then forgave it all. This was all done on TV, to the cheers of his audience.

Oliver claimed to have outdone Oprah Winfrey, who once gave a car to each person in her studio audience. Oprah’s car give-away cost $8 million, just over half of Oliver’s. So, Oliver wins the charitable ego competition, right?

Nope. Oliver did not forgive $15 million of medical debt. That was the face amount of the accounts receivable. He bought them for about half a cent on the dollar, or about $60,000 total. The lesson of Oliver’s stunt is that medical accounts receivable are very hard to collect. That is why they trade so cheaply in the secondary debt market. Continue reading The Real Lesson of John Oliver’s Medical Debt Forgiveness Stunt →

Interesting Links

Debt-Related Stress on the Rise, Children in Medicaid Receive Fewer Screenings, and Alzheimer’s Prevention

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46 percent of Americans are suffering from debt-related stress. 53 percent say they feel little or no stress at all.

More than three of every four children on Medicaid in nine states did not receive one or more of the recommended medical, vision or hearing screenings in 2007, according to a study by the HHS inspector general.

Panel: There is no way to prevent Alzheimer’s.

Science and Other News

U.S. Debt May Hit 100% of GDP; Annual Interest Payments May Top $1 Trillion

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CBO expects the annual cost of servicing the interest on the nation’s debt will reach $0.9 trillion in 2020 under the Obama budget plan, up from about $0.2 trillion this year. But it could very well go much higher than that, as a recent white paper from analysts at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demonstrates. According to that projection, U.S. debt could top 100 percent of the GDP by 2020 if, as the IMF analysts expect, the large run-up in governmental debt pushes interest rates up faster than either CBO or the administration now forecasts.

Full post by James C. Capretta at National Review’s health care blog.