WASHINGTON – Three federal agencies last week launched an investigation into high-cost specialty financial products – such as medical credit cards and installment loans – that are pushed on patients as a way to pay for routine medical care and which drive up health care costs and medical debt, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced.
The public input will bolster the agencies’ efforts to safeguard consumers against predatory medical debt and collections practices, the CFPB said in a statement.
“Financial firms are partnering with health care players to push products that can drive patients deep into debt,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a statement. “We are opening a public inquiry to better understand how these practices are affecting patients in our country.”
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The CFPB, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Treasury are seeking information about the prevalence of these products, patients’ experiences with them, and health care providers’ incentives to offer these high-cost products to patients, which may include avoiding the insurance claims process and financial assistance programs.
Specifically, the agencies are requesting information about the specialty medical payment product market; patient experiences and downstream consequences; billing and financial assistance issues; and health care provider incentives.
Consumers can submit information by visiting the CFPB’s website or calling 855- 411-2372.
“This inquiry builds on the Department’s work to protect patients from unfair billing practices, lower costs, and increase transparency in our health care system,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Hearing directly from patients about their experiences will help shape policies that can prevent families from incurring medical debt.”
Medical payment products were once used primarily to pay for care not traditionally covered by health insurance plans, such as dental and vision care, fertility services, and cosmetic surgery.
However, medical payment products are now also used to pay for a broader set of services, including emergency room visits and primary and specialty care. Even when medical care may otherwise be covered by insurance or financial assistance, patients may be pitched these products by their health care providers who then pass the administration of patient billing and collections over to financial service companies.
Contact PBN staff writer Sam Wood at Wood@PBN.com.
