Healthcare

A bill has been passed by the Idaho state House of Representatives that would establish a waiting period before a healthcare bill could be assigned to a third-party collection agency to be recovered as well as limit the amount that a court can award in attorneys’ fees. A copy of …

A battle between a health insurance giant and a physician staffing firm could lead to a spike in the number of surprise medical bills sent to individuals visiting anesthesiologists, neonatologists, and obstetricians, according to a published report. UnitedHealth Group has terminated an agreement with Mednax, which means doctors working for …

In a coordinated effort, a pair of bills were introduced in the Maryland state legislature that target how medical debts are collected on the same day that a number of consumer groups released a report spotlighting the legal collection efforts of hospitals in the state. A copy of the report, …

Not-for-profit hospitals that have the highest profits do not offer as much in charity care as those hospitals that do not make a lot of money, according to research that was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Overall, non-profit hospitals generated $48 billion in profits and provided …

While one-in-seven individuals were still having problems paying their medical bills at the end of 2018, that represents a 28% drop from the number who were having problems in 2011, according to data released this week by the Centers for Disease Control. Taking data from the 2018 National Health Interview …

Another hospital — this time in Alabama — is being called out for suing individuals who do not pay their healthcare bills, and patients are accusing the facility of not being empathetic enough in deploying their charity care options. Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Ala., filed 1,032 lawsuits last year — …

Surprise medical bills — where a patient thinks he or she has medical coverage only to find out that a doctor was out of his or her healthcare network after the fact — has become a hot-button topic on the presidential campaign trail, in state governments across the country, and …

More than half of Americans know someone who has experienced serious financial trouble because of healthcare costs, according to the results of a new survey that was conducted by a number of groups, including USA Today. One of the survey’s key takeaways is that making healthcare more affordable is the …

A warning to all companies in the credit and collection industry that deal with medical debts — hackers are salivating at the chance to get your data. A published report indicates that an individual’s healthcare records are up to 50 times more valuable on the black market than a regular …

A trio of former patients are accusing a South Carolina hospital of violating federal law by attempting to collect on debts after individuals have filed for bankruptcy protection. The hospital was accused of using a state-run program that withholds tax refunds from individuals with unpaid debts to pay their medical …