Dive Brief:
- An analysis by Crowe Horwath LLP suggests healthcare providers should be mindful of the increased adoption of high-deductible health plans.
- While the majority of uncompensated care is still associated with the uninsured population, the analysis found consistent growth in the share of uncompensated care associated with the insured population, the company reports.
- Given the trend, healthcare providers should be proactive in identifying these patients and take take their costs under consideration.
Dive Insight:
The analysis suggests the popularity of HDHPs will continue to grow as health insurance consumers seek out plans with affordable premiums.
It notes, however, that "currently, an astounding 84% of hospitals are not creating unique HDHP codes while an additional 9% are not effectively registering this growing insured patient population, which makes them prone to revenue leakage and financial risk."
The analysis says insured patients' share of uncompensated care jumped from 2013 to 2014, with bad debt up 22% and charity rates up 130% in Medicaid expansion states. In nonexpansion states, bad debt rose 35% and charity rates rose 130%.