People turn to hospitals when they are in desperate need of care or experiencing medical emergencies and shouldn’t have to worry about facing financial ruin due to these visits. Unfortunately, all too often trips to the hospital can become financially toxic for patients as a result of hospital practices designed to maximize profits.
In states across the country, hospitals have pursued predatory actions such as lawsuits against patients with unpaid hospital bills, adding annual interest to medical bills, placing liens on patients’ homes and garnishing wages and bank accounts. Increasingly in Utah and across the country, patients experiencing emergency situations are left with significant surprise bills when the hospital or physician who treated them was not in their insurance network. Utah hospitals are also steadily raising prices and charging vastly different amounts for common procedures.
With all of these practices threatening the economic stability of Americans who can least afford it, it’s no surprise that 91% of patients are concerned about receiving surprise bills from hospitals and 65% say it’s difficult to understand the cost of care at a hospital, according to a recent Ipsos-Consumers for Quality Care study.
As governors from across the country gather in the Beehive State for the National Governors Association summer meeting this week, they must focus on addressing the larger pattern of unethical hospital practices impacting their states and curtailing toxic hospital practices that leave patients in severe financial distress.
Donna Christensen
Catharpin, Virginia