ACP: Deductibles May Be Discouraging Patients from Getting Care

ACP: Deductibles May Be Discouraging Patients from Getting Care

The American College of Physicians (ACP) says cost sharing—deductibles, in particular—may be leading patients to delay even medically necessary services, leaving the door open for urgent care to make its case to cash-paying customers seeking a middle ground. In “Addressing the Increasing Burden of Health Insurance Cost Sharing,” ACP makes five recommendations for making cost sharing more “equitable” in the private market, mainly by reducing overall health care spending, designing insurance plans that allow access …

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Paying a Bigger Share of Medical Bills Could Have Patients Turning to Urgent Care

Paying a Bigger Share of Medical Bills Could Have Patients Turning to Urgent Care

There’s a “new, critical stakeholder” with a voice in discussions about healthcare costs—and it’s someone urgent care operators know as well as anyone. A new report from InstaMed says 74% of patients had to pay a bigger share of their healthcare costs in 2015, prompting revenue cycle analysts to look at them more closely as actual “consumers” of services. “Both payers and providers will be challenged to overhaul their payment processes or face lost revenue …

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