Patients blame hospitals for high medical bills
Health Leaders
9/14/18
When asked which groups are most responsible for surprise medical bills, 82% said hospitals were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ responsible.
Patients are nearly as likely to blame hospitals for their surprise medical bills as their insurance company, finds a new survey from NORC at the University of Chicago.
When asked which groups are most responsible for surprise medical bills, 82% said hospitals were “very” or “somewhat” responsible.
Eighty-six percent of respondents said insurance companies are “very” or “somewhat” responsible.
This hospital blame game played out in real life recently when St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, got slammed in the media over a teacher’s $109,000 heart attack bill.
The bill was featured in Kaiser Health News’ and NPR’s “Bill of the Month” series, which scrutinizes high or confusing medical bills.
Several factors reportedly stacked up against the teacher, including his insurance coverage and visiting an out-of-network hospital. Indeed, the NORC survey shows 20% of respondents’ surprise bills were a result of a doctor not being part of their insurance network.