Average Recovery Rates
- Hospitals – 10.3 percent. (Source: ACA International’s Top Collection Markets Survey*, Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2010.)
- Non-hospitals – 17.8 percent. (Source: ACA International’s Top Collection Markets Survey, Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2010.)
Uncompensated Care/Bad Debt
- U.S. hospitals provided $36.4 billion in uncompensated care in 2008, representing 5.8 percent of annual hospital expenses. (Source: American Hospital Association, “Uncompensated Hospital Care Cost Fact Sheet,” November 2009.)
- The national average for bad debt is 2.38 percent, 2.50 percent for charity and 4.88 percent for total uncollectable accounts. The Southeast region of the U.S. had the highest percentage of total uncollectable accounts at 6.88 percent. (Source: The Hospital Accounts Report Analysis on Fourth Quarter 2010.)
Uninsured/Underinsured
- The percentage of people without health insurance increased to 16.7 percent in 2009 from 15.4 percent in 2008. The number of uninsured increased to 50.7 million in 2009, from 46.3 million in 2008. (Source: The U.S. Census Bureau, “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010.”).
- As of 2010, 73 million people reported problems paying their medical bills or were paying off medical debt, up from 58 million in 2005. An estimated 44 million people were paying off medical debt in 2010, up from 37 million in 2005. (Source: Press release, The Commonwealth Fund, March 16, 2011.)
- The number of Americans, of all ages, who did not have insurance at some point in 2010, was 60.3 million. (Source: Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, 2010.)
- The uninsured rate and the number of uninsured for the native-born population increased to 14.1 percent and 37.7 million in 2009 from 12.9 percent and 34.0 million in 2008 (Table8). The uninsured rate and the number of uninsured for the foreign-born population increased to 34.5 percent and 13.0 million in 2009 from 33.5 percent and 12.3 million in 2008. (Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009, Sept. 2010.)
- In 2010, among adults aged 19–25 years, 10 million (33.9%) were uninsured at the time of interview. (Source: Center for Disease Control, Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2010, June 20, 2011.)
Premiums
- In 2010, annual premiums for families covered by employer-sponsored health insurance were $13,770. Premiums rose 3 percent since 2009, but have risen 114 percent since 2000. (Source: The 2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), September 2010.)
Out-of-Pocket Costs
- Annual out-of-pocket responsibility for families covered by employer-sponsored health insurance in 2008 was $3,997. (Source: The 2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), September 2010.)
Deductibles
- The percentage of covered workers in a plan with a deductible of at least $1,000 for single coverage grew from 22% to 27% in the past year. Covered workers in small firms remain more likely than covered workers in larger firms (46% vs. 17%) to be in plans with deductibles of at least $1,000. (Source: The 2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), September 2010.)
Cost of Care
- In 2010, 29 percent of adults (19 – 64) reported that they had medical debt or trouble paying medical bills, and 16 percent had been contacted by a collection agency for unpaid medical bills. (Source: Press release, The Commonwealth Fund Insurance Survey 2005-2010, March 16, 2011.)
- For individuals with greater levels of obesity, lifetime medical costs are higher, ranging from $15,000 to $29,000 more than for normal weight individuals. (Source: RTI International and Merck & Co., May 29, 2008.)
Electronic Medical Records
- Although U.S. primary care doctors’ use of electronic medical records increased from 28 percent to 46 percent from 2006 to 2009, the U.S. lags far behind leading countries where 99 percent of doctors have electronic records, often with advanced system capacity to support doctors and patients. (Source: Press release, The Commonwealth Fund, November 5, 2009.)
Access to Care
In 2010, 41 percent of adults, or 75 million people, said they had skipped or delayed getting needed health care or filling prescriptions because of the cost. This is an increase from 64 million people who reported such problems five years earlier. A quarter of adults with a chronic health condition said they had skipped doses or not filled a prescription for their health condition because of the cost. (Source: The Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance survey of 2010, March 2011.)
Enrollment in Health Plans
- Enrollment in consumer-directed health plans rose 8 percent in 2008 to 5.5 million covered workers, up from 5 percent in 2007. (Source: The 2008 Employer Health Benefits Survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), Sept. 24, 2008.)
- About four in five (79%) covered workers in firms offering health benefits work in a firm that offers one or more PPOs; 42% work in firms that offer one or more HMOs; 32% work in firms that offer one or more HDHP/SOs; 14% work in firms that offer one or more POS plans; and 6% work in firms that offer one or more conventional plans. (Source: The 2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), September 2010.)
Health Care Spending
- Nominal health spending in the United States grew 4.0 percent in 2009, to $2.5 trillion or $8,086 per person. This was the slowest rate of growth in the 50-year history of the National Health Expenditure Accounts, due in great part to the economic recession. Despite slowdown, health care spending growth continued to outpace overall nominal economic growth, which declined 1.7 percent in 2009 as measured by the Gross Domestic Product.
(Source: CMS Issues Annual Report on National Health Spending, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, January 6, 2011.)
*To purchase the 2011 Top Collection Markets results, please contact ACA’s Member Services Department at (952) 926-6547.
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