Financial Distress Connected to Medical Bills Shows a Decline, the First in Years

Source: NY Times

After rising for a decade, the number of Americans experiencing financial distress from their
medical bills has started to decline, a new survey has found.

The result provides new evidence that the Affordable Care Act, by providing uninsured people
with health insurance, is also improving their financial security, a major goal of the law.

snip

“Health insurance really provides people with a financial means to get care,” said Sara Collins,
a vice president at Commonwealth, who worked on the study. “We don’t know yet that the law
is improving people’s health, but this is a first indication that people are affording care that they
weren’t able to get in the past.”

snip


The reductions in problems with medical bills and debt mostly reflect the increases in the number
of Americans with insurance, Ms. Collins said. The addition of health insurance means that people
who in the past had no help paying medical bills now have new financing for doctors’ visits,
prescription drugs and hospital stays. (Paradoxically, people who lack insurance often face the
highest prices for such services, meaning they have less financial assistance and pay more than
insured customers.)

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/upshot/financial-distress-connected-to-medical-bills-shows-a-decline-the-first-in-years.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0