Consumer Credit More Difficult to Access; Fewer Payment Alternatives for Skyrocketing Healthcare Bills

Credit card offers mailed to consumers tapered off sharply in recent months after a resurgence in the wake of the recession, indicating a shift in large-issuer strategies.

Issuers clearly are becoming more selective in mailing solicitations after the initial post-recession frenzy that peaked in June 2011. But, experts say, they also are relying more heavily on in-branch marketing.

As suggested by new data from Mintel Comperemedia, direct mail inviting consumers to apply for credit cards in April hit a 25-month low, dipping to 260 million mailings, down 33% from 390 mailings a year earlier.

The latest numbers bring card solicitations closer to a level last seen in the spring of 2010, when issuers pulled back on mailings and tightened credit standards in reaction to the recession, the data shows. Chicago-based Mintel tracks monthly direct mail volume in various categories through a long-running household panel.

As the credit market continues to tighten, consumers also are contending with an escalating responsibility for their healthcare costs derived from skyrocketing employee deductibles and co-pays. The result? Patients who encounter oftentimes-unexpected medical bills with insufficient cash to pay in full may find it very difficult to repay their out-of-pocket hospital expenses.

There is, however, a solution. CSI Financial Services’ ClearBalance^® is a patient-friendly program designed to help all patients (regardless of credit score) by providing an affordable repayment option. ClearBalance gives patients the opportunity to receive a long-term payment option featuring low monthly payments with no interest or late fees.

For more information, please call ClearBalance at 858-200-9208.

Source:  Collections & Credit Risk

Impact of Supreme Court Ruling: Healthcare Deductibles, Co-Pays May Skyrocket

As the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, millions more Americans will now be required to either purchase insurance or face a tax penalty. And, many employers also will face fines if they don’t offer coverage for their workers.

Seeking an affordable solution, more employers are likely to offer their workers high-deductible plans…meaning that healthcare providers and patients will have to contend with large balances-after-insurance bills.

According to a recent survey by benefits consultant Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit alliance of large companies, seventy percent of large companies surveyed said they’ll offer high-deductible insurance by 2013.

Moreover, nearly a fifth of the firms responding to the survey, said high-deductible coverage would be the only option in 2013.

According to a new paper from Rand Corp., half of all workers — including those working for the government — could be on high-deductible insurance within a decade.

There is, however, a solution. CSI Financial Services’ ClearBalance^® program is a patient-friendly loan program designed to help all patients (regardless of credit score) by providing an affordable repayment option for their out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.  ClearBalance gives patients the opportunity to repay their obligation over time with low monthly payments, no annual interest rate, and no late fees.

For more information, please call ClearBalance at 858-200-9208.

Nearly Nine in 10 Consider Cost of Care a Serious Problem

Many Americans who have experienced a serious illness or injury within the past 12 months are concerned about the financial costs of medical care, and struggle to ensure that their care is appropriate, according to a new poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR and Harvard School of Public Health. In addition, the poll found a large majority of the general public (87%) thinks the cost of care is a serious problem for the country and two-thirds of the general public (65%) believes the cost of care has gotten worse over the last five years.

The poll also examined sick Americans’ experiences and perceptions of the costs and quality of medical care over the last year. More than 40 percent say that the cost of their medical care has caused a “very serious” (20%) or “somewhat serious” (23%) problem for their or their family’s finances. They also reported that high health care costs affected their ability to access care, with one in six sick Americans saying that there was a time in the past 12 months when they could not get the medical care they needed. The financial barriers to accessing care were more pronounced for sick people who were uninsured at some point in the last year.

There is, however, a solution.  CSI Financial Services’ ClearBalance is a patient-friendly program designed to help with unexpected medical bills by providing an affordable repayment option. ClearBalance gives patients the opportunity to receive a long-term payment option featuring low monthly payments with no interest or late fees.

For more information, please call ClearBalance at 858-200-9208.

Employer cost management tactics for 2012

According to a study by Mercer, 33% of employers say they are raising deductibles or copayments in 2012.

 

To read more, click here.

Hospitals Still Feeling the Strain of Their Patient’s Inability to Make Ends Meet

According to a CareerBuilder survey, conducted May 18 to June 3, 2011, 42% of workers say they usually or always live paycheck to paycheck, and 1 in 5 say they have missed payments on bills in the last year.

Even among workers making six figures, 14% say they live paycheck to paycheck, and 6% of the respondents reported they cannot make ends meet every month.

Female workers continue to struggle more with their personal finances than their male counterparts. 46% of female workers and 38% of male workers say they live paycheck to paycheck. 24% of female workers say they have missed a bill payment over the last 12 months, higher than male workers at 17%.

Providing patients with an easy to manage bank loan helps your community meet their financial obligation and provides significant improvement to a hospital’s revenue cycle – lowering bad debt expense and cost-to-collect, while concurrently increasing day’s-cash-on-hand and patient satisfaction.