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Unlike Medical Spending, Medical Bills In Collections Decrease With Patients' Age.

Michael Batty¹, Christa Gibbs², Benedic Ippolito³

¹Michael Batty is an economist at the Federal Reserve Board, in Washington, D.C.

Health Affairs (Project Hope)

|July 26, 2018

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Medical debt collections decrease with age, despite insurance coverage. Even modest medical debt can lead to collections, impacting household finances across age groups.

Area of Science:

Health Policy
Medical Economics
Consumer Finance

Background:

Health policies aim to protect patient financial security.
The impact of medical debt on household finances is not well understood.
Medical debt is a significant financial burden for many individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the age distribution of individuals with medical bills sent to collections.
To understand the relationship between age, medical debt, and insurance coverage.
To inform policies addressing medical debt and insurance regulation.

Main Methods:

Utilized credit report data from over four million Americans.
Analyzed data from medical bills sent to US collections agencies in 2016.

Keywords:

Consumer Issues Cost of Health Care Health Spending

Related Experiment Videos

Examined the age profile of individuals with medical collections.

Main Results:

Medical collections significantly decreased with advancing age.
Average medical debt size reduced by nearly 40% for individuals aged 27-64.
Medical collection frequency showed less correlation with insurance coverage rates, as many debts were below $600.

Conclusions:

Medical debt and collections disproportionately affect younger populations.
Even relatively small medical debts can result in collections, impacting financial security.
Findings suggest potential policy interventions, including restrictions on age rating in insurance.