When it comes to unpaid medical bills, many of the top 100 hospitals in the U.S. have and continue to employ predatory billing tactics to get their money.
A new analysis by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has revealed some staggering statistics about the realities of predatory billing using data collected from January 1, 2018 to July 31, 2020.
10 hospitals are responsible for 97% of court actions against patients
64% of patients avoided or delayed medical care for fear of cost
38,965 lawsuits and other court actions taken against patients
987 wage garnishments
Rising deductibles and out-of-pocket costs has had many Americans feeling the pressure and, often times, left responsible for daunting medical bills or resorting to filing for bankruptcy. In fact, medical debt comprises 58% of all debt collections in the U.S.
According to JHU’s data, these patient lawsuits are most prevalent among governmental and nonprofit hospitals. Of the ten hospitals named responsible for the lion’s share of court actions against patients, seven are nonprofit. While nonprofit hospitals receive tax exemptions in exchange for charitable measures, this analysis shows most of them have failed to meet their obligations.
Though it appears nonprofit hospitals seem to have a penchant for court action, private hospitals aren’t exactly innocent. According to JHU’s data, on average, the top 100 hospitals charged patients 7x the cost of service, (with markup calculated from the American Hospital Directory’s cost-to-charge ratio) but private hospitals average a nearly 12x markup. While many patients don’t end up paying these inflated list prices, they bear the cost in other ways – mainly in the form of rising premiums and large surprise bills for out-of-network coverage.
The recent public spotlight on predatory billing, however, has seemed to spark change. Hospitals have sued patients less often in 2020 than the previous two years, and some, like VCU Medical Center and UVA University Hospital, have even altered their billing practices to stop suing patients altogether. The number of lawsuits filed by the largest 100 hospitals saw a major drop in 2020 – down 92% from 2018.
While these policy changes represent a noteworthy shift in the predatory billing landscape, with the court system being disrupted by the pandemic and JHU’s report only going through the end of July 2020, it’s unclear if they will last.
To view the complete JHU report, click here.
