Two-Thirds of Patients Have Never Challenged a Medical Bill’s Accuracy

Nearly two-thirds of patients have never challenged a medical bill, but among those who have, most charges were reduced or removed, according to a survey conducted by AKASA on behalf of YouGov.

The survey gathered responses online from 2,026 adults between March 9 and March 14, 2022. Nearly 180 respondents were enrolled in an employer-sponsored high-deductible health plan (HDHP).

When asked if they had experienced challenging a medical bill with their physician, hospital, or insurance company, 64 percent of respondents said they had never disputed a bill’s validity or accuracy. This figure was higher among uninsured individuals, with 78 percent having never challenged a medical bill.

People enrolled in HDHPs and Medicare Advantage plans were more likely to have questioned a bill’s accuracy than those with other health plans.

“Despite all the negative experiences many patients have with getting surprise bills, we’ve been conditioned not to question or challenge medical bills we receive,” Amy Raymond, vice president of revenue cycle operations at AKASA, said in the press release. “While providers need to take a close look at their revenue cycle department to prevent those billing mistakes in the first place, we also need to drive awareness among consumers that they can indeed push back on a bill that is simply incorrect.”

Among the 36 percent of respondents who had challenged a medical bill, 78 percent reported getting the charges reduced or removed.

Three in ten of those respondents said it took less than a month for them to resolve the disputed bill. Almost 30 percent said it took between one and three months to resolve, 18 percent said it took three to six months, and 16 percent said it took more than six months to get the charge reduced or removed.

The findings suggest that, in some cases, consumers could avoid having to pay unnecessarily high medical bills by challenging the bill’s validity.

Consumers’ knowledge about their options regarding medical bills is limited. One study found that 64 percent of consumers were unaware that their physicians or hospitals offered financial assistance programs to help cover medical bills. This share increased to 80 percent among uninsured individuals.

Additionally, almost 40 percent of Americans said they found medical bills somewhat or extremely confusing. Respondents were most frustrated with understanding what they were being billed for and if they would be able to pay the bill.

A report from HHS found that the share of people in families having trouble paying medical bills fell from 14 percent in 2019 to 10.8 percent in 2021. However, the Department noted that millions of Americans struggled to pay their medical bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. People with low-income, uninsured individuals, and those living in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid were more likely to face challenges paying medical bills.