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HEALTHCARE
NEWS
Medical debt in the US: 11 statistics to know
By Marissa Plescia
M
edical debt plagues many Americans,
was worsened by the COVID-19 pan-
demic and disproportionately affects
people of color, according to studies, surveys
and articles Becker's has reported. Here are 11
statistics on medical debt in the U.S.:
1. ree in four Americans owe more than
$2,000 in medical debt, a Dec. 8 survey by
Discover Personal Loans found.
2. Eight in 10 Americans with existing medi-
cal debt from that survey said they chose
to delay medical care because of the costs.
irty-seven percent have had to skip pay-
ing other bills because of debt.
3. Also in the Discover Personal Loans
survey, 53 percent of those with existing
medical debt said they have had to take on
additional medical debt during the CO-
VID-19 pandemic.
4. Sixty-three percent of respondents in that
survey said they are anxious about paying for
medical debt, while 47 percent are concerned
about their health improving.
5. A survey by TransUnion Healthcare found
that 35 percent of patients with outstanding
medical bills deferred care in the last year
because of unpaid debt.
6. Medical debt collection especially hurts
Black Americans. Twenty-eight percent of
Black households have medical debt, Bloom-
berg reported Nov. 22. Seventeen percent of
white households have medical debt. Ameri-
cans' past-due medical bills on U.S. credit
files add up to $140 billion.
7. Only less than 1 percent of total revenue
is brought in to hospitals through billing
tactics such as garnishing wages, charging
high interest rates, putting liens on homes
and suing patients, Bloomberg also reported.
But these tactics are more commonly used
against people of color.
8. Black patients aren't always informed about
financial assistance, according to Bloomberg.
A Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
poll found that less than half of Black re-
spondents were aware of hospitals provid-
ing free or low-cost care for low-income
patients. is compares with 79 percent of
white respondents.
9. In Wisconsin, hospital lawsuits for unpaid
medical bills increased by 37 percent from
2001-18, a Dec. 6 Health Affairs essay found.
10. e Wisconsin study also discovered that per
1,000 Black residents, there were 1.86 lawsuits
for unpaid medical bills in 2018, compared with
1.32 per 1,000 white residents.
11. RIP Medical Debt has recently partnered
with six organizations to help erase medical
debt. e charity has assisted in relieving
more than $5.5 billion in debt, according
to its website. For every $1 donation, $100
is relieved. n
Hospital closing 3 outpatient clinics to address
staff shortages
By Alan Condon
Y
akima (Wash.) Valley Memorial is permanently clos-
ing three outpatient clinics to consolidate services
and help address staff shortages, according to a
Nov. 16 report by yaktrinews.com.
The hospital is shutting down its Ambulatory Endoscopy
Clinic, which initially closed during the height of the delta
variant surge this summer so staff could be redeployed to
take care of patients. Procedures performed at the clinic,
such as upper endoscopies and colonoscopies, were
moved to the hospital where they could be supported by
operating room staff.
"After carefully considering the best way we can offer
these procedures in a safe, sustainable, high-quality
manner, Memorial decided to continue performing these
procedures at the hospital while modifying the Ridgeview
ambulatory surgery center ... which will also take on some
of these cases in early 2022," hospital officials said in a
Nov. 15 news release.
The endoscopy clinic was in a nearby Yakima Gastroenter-
ology Associates facility, which will remain open but will
cease performing endoscopic procedures.
Tanny Davenport, MD, physician executive of medical
group operations at Yakima Valley, told yaktrinews.com
that the move will be beneficial for patients because
"we're resuming services that we had to earlier in the
pandemic and increasing access so that they can get their
needed colonoscopies or other endoscopies."
Yakima Valley aims to perform 6,500 endoscopies a year,
which it did in 2019, according to Dr. Davenport.
In addition, the hospital moved Yakima Lung & Asthma
from its previous location to Yakima Valley Memorial Heart,
Lung & Vascular on the hospital campus. The move will
allow pulmonologists, who are also critical care physi-
cians, to be closer to the campus should their services be
needed elsewhere.
On Nov. 22, the hospital also closed the Zillah Family
Medicine clinic, with Jonathan Davenport, MD, its sole
provider, relocating to the Pacific Crest Family Medicine
clinic in Yakima.
Hospital officials said they have no plans to close or con-
solidate services at any other outpatient clinics. n
