More hospitals and healthcare facilities are rolling out payment plans for individuals, and could go a long way toward recovering some of the $7.5 billion or so of medical debt that goes unpaid every year, according to the results of a survey conducted by PYMNTS.com.
Only 26.6% of the respondents paid the entire bill for their procedure at the time of treatment, and another 40% paid a co-pay at the time of treatment and paid the invoice when it was received. The remaining 33% either paid the balance using a payment plan offered by the hospital, offered by someone else, or didn’t pay.
Hospitals, meanwhile, are not doing a bang-up job of attempting to collect at the time of service. More than half of the survey respondents indicated the hospital only attempted to collect the co-pay at the time of service, and another 23% said the hospital did not attempt to collect anything.
About 28% of individuals said they are either somewhat less likely or less likely to pay off a debt using a payment plan, according to the survey.
“When considering the potential benefits for patients and hospitals alike, it appears payment plans could be a prescription for better financial health,” the survey concluded.
