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< HealthStream Resources

The Rising Cost of Health Insurance and Coverage Concerns Generate Anxiety

April 1, 2021
April 1, 2021

Healthcare providers must add how patients experience the financial side of healthcare to the many areas that require their focus and staff training, according to the HealthStream article, “Footing the Bill - Improving the Patient Financial Experience Is Increasingly Critical for Provider Profitability.” This blog post is the fourth in a series of excerpts from the article.

Premiums continue to rise, and consumers continue to demand coverage.

It’s not as though the issue of healthcare costs is being kept quiet. The political landscape is awash, particularly during election season, with talk of the nation’s healthcare crisis. One group will run advertising decrying the high cost of care, while another will push back with ads addressing consumers’ very real fear of being exposed to huge bills due to an accident or illness. Rigid electoral ideologies and hardened opinions about “who should pay for healthcare” make pleasing everyone impossible.

As healthcare continues to be front and center in the political arena, providers are finding themselves in the crosshairs of consumer ire over insurance costs, as well as costs of one-time and ongoing care. Providers are seen as part of the cost problem and must be more aggressive in addressing consumers’ concerns in this area.

Pre-Existing Conditions Coverage Is a Vital Benefit

That said, consumers see the value of insurance and their coverage. According to KFF, pre-existing conditions remain a huge concern, with a majority of the public saying that the Affordable Care Act’s protection for those who have them is very important. Those polled also strongly support community ratings to set policy-cost parameters, and about half are worried or very worried about rising health insurance costs or lost coverage.

This article also includes:

  • Healthcare is expensive.
  • Healthcare Costs Generate Patient Anxiety
  • Providing high-quality healthcare means delivering on many components.
  • High-deductible plans expand coverage but depress outcomes.
  • Healthcare pricing remains a veiled mystery.
  • Patients are avoiding care, which drives up costs and depresses outcomes.
  • Providers think they are powerless in this situation.

 

Download the full article here.