Nearly 4 million seniors reported unpaid medical bills in 2020, even though 98 percent of them had insurance, according to a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Total unpaid medical debt for seniors rose from $44.8 billion in 2019 to $53.8 billion in 2020, even though older adults reported fewer doctor visits and lower out-of-pocket costs in 2020.
The findings are based on census data and consumer complaints collected between 2020 and 2022.
Medical debt among seniors is rising partly because health care costs are going up, agency officials said. But much of the $53.8 billion is cumulative, they said — debt carried over from one year to the next.
In the most common scenario, providers charge elderly patients the full price of an expensive medical service rather than work with the insurer that is supposed to cover it.
If the patient doesn't pay, the provider sends the bill into collections.
Many older Americans are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, and federal and state laws largely prohibit providers from billing those patients for anything more than co-pays.
Yet they're still seeing bills, especially if the patients are low-income. Some providers refuse to speak to patients once the bill is sent to collections, and the collection agents are relentless.
Even if a provider is willing to fix a mistake, debt collectors may continue attempting to collect — even though there isn't actually a debt.
Rather than fight with collection agents, many seniors become convinced their appeal is hopeless, the report found, and end up paying the erroneous bill.
Read more at The Hill.
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