Growing bad-debt problem illustrates broken billing system

Modern Healthcare: Patient payment represents a growing share of health systems' revenue, putting consumers and providers in a precarious position, a new report finds.

Patient balance after insurance rose from 8% of the total bill responsibility in the first quarter of 2012 to 12.2% in the first quarter of 2017, according to new analysis from TransUnion Healthcare. Commercially insured patients saw their balance after insurance increase of 67% from $467 to $781. For Medicare beneficiaries, it increased from $144 to $314.

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