You hear about the people that are screwed by medical debt….how they have lost everything to pay those massive bills that come in the mail and phone calls.
But that is all too common….every thought about who profits by throwing people into debtors prison (not really but has the same results)…..IST would be remiss if I did not tell the rest of the story…..
Patients at North Carolina-based Atrium Health get what looks like an enticing pitch when they go to the nonprofit hospital system’s website: a payment plan from lender AccessOne. The plans offer “easy ways to make monthly payments” on medical bills, the website says. You don’t need good credit to get a loan. Everyone is approved. Nothing is reported to credit agencies.
In Minnesota, Allina Health encourages its patients to sign up for an account with MedCredit Financial Services to “consolidate your health expenses.” In Southern California, Chino Valley Medical Center, part of the Prime Healthcare chain, touts “promotional financing options with the CareCredit credit card to help you get the care you need, when you need it.”
As Americans are overwhelmed with medical bills, patient financing is now a multibillion-dollar business, with private equity and big banks lined up to cash in when patients and their families can’t pay for care. By one estimate from research firm IBISWorld, profit margins top 29% in the patient financing industry, seven times what is considered a solid hospital margin.
Hospitals and other providers, which historically put their patients in interest-free payment plans, have welcomed the financing, signing contracts with lenders and enrolling patients in financing plans with rosy promises about convenient bills and easy payments.
For patients, the payment plans often mean something more ominous: yet more debt.
Millions of people are paying interest on these plans, on top of what they owe for medical or dental care, an investigation by KHN and NPR shows. Even with lower rates than a traditional credit card, the interest can add hundreds, even thousands of dollars to medical bills and ratchet up financial strains when patients are most vulnerable.
How Banks and Private Equity Cash In When Patients Can’t Pay Their Medical Bills
You now see that your health issues money in the bank for Pharma and the health industry.
While you were rotting your brain on Twatter, Tik Tak and other mindless sites your life is being dismantled….and seemingly with your permission.
Pay Attention!
Be Smart!
Learn Stuff!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
