Surprise medical bills can upend financial stability and devastate families.
A $115,527 bill for a three-day hospital stay, including $15,076 for four tiny screws. A $18,836 hospital bill for a visit lasting three hours and 22 minutes, which mostly consisted of a nap and baby formula. And $108,951.31 bill for an unexpected life-threatening emergency.
Unexpected medical bills top the list of health care costs Americans are afraid they will not be able to afford, with 4 in 10 people saying they had received a surprisingly large invoice within the past year, according to a new poll.
The Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 67 percent of people worry about unexpected medical bills, more than they dread insurance deductibles, prescription drug costs or the basic staples of life: rent, food and gas.
In fact, more than half of American adults have been surprised by a medical bill that they thought would have been covered by insurance, according to another survey.
In the study, by the research institute NORC at the University of Chicago, 57% of a 1,000 adults surveyed reported receiving a surprise medical bill. The charges were for physician services (53%), followed by laboratory tests (51%). Other charges were related to hospitals or other healthcare facility charges (43%), imaging (35%) and prescription drugs (29%). Twenty percent of their surprise bills were a result of a doctor not being part of the network.
Surprise medical bills usually stem from out-of-network providers, where services may only be partially covered, but they also come because patients expected insurance to cover more than it actually did.
Affordability of healthcare has often been cited as a top issue for patients, with many viewing serious illness less frightening than the cost.
Another survey by the NORC revealed people are not only delaying but also going without recommended care such as tests, treatments and doctor visits because of costs. About one-in-three respondents reported that they did not fill a prescription or took less than the prescribed dose to save money. More than half of survey respondents report serious financial consequences due to the costs of healthcare. Thirty-six percent say they have had to use up all or most of their savings, 32 percent report borrowing money or increasing credit card debt, and 41 percent say they decreased contributions to a savings plan because of healthcare expenses.
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