Medical bills weigh nearly half of patients with cardiovascular disease

More than 45% of adult patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) suffer from financial difficulties related to their medical bills, including many patients unable to pay their medical bills, according to an article in cardiovascular medicine and society published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

ASCVD is the leading cause of death in the United States and the disease that drives the highest health care costs for a single clbad of diseases. Even among insured patients, many people with ASCVD are prone to financial difficulties because of the high cost of insurance, including deductibles, co-insurance and co-insurance. However, the data on the impact of this financial burden are insufficient.

"The ASCVD's management costs are substantial and constitute a major source of personal concern, particularly for low-income families and uninsured patients who generally do not have sufficient financial reserves. to offset the burden of unexpected health expenditures, "Khurram Nasir, MD, MPH, MSc, lead author of the paper, and director of population health and health systems research at the Center for Research and Evaluation. on Yale's results. "Our study highlights the fact that a significant proportion of the non-elderly patients in the ASCVD system and their families in the United States have problems with their health care bills."

The authors of this article, led by Javier Valero-Elizondo, MD, MPH, reviewed data from the 2013-2017 National Health Interview Survey to badess the national burden of financial hardship. related to medical bills in people with ASCVD, as well as the potential consequences. including financial distress, food insecurity and cost-inconsistent drug compliance. They specifically examined adults aged 18 to 64 with ASCVD to capture the patient population without universal financial protection from public insurance.

Of the 6,160 adults aged 18 to 64 with ASCVD in the survey, individuals with financial difficulties related to medical bills were defined if they or a family member reported having had difficulties in paying medical bills in the past year or if they are currently paying medical bills over time. . If they reported problems paying their bills, they were then asked if they had bills that they were unable to pay.

The study population was then divided into three categories: "no financial difficulties due to medical bills", "financial difficulties due to medical bills but able to pay" and "unable to pay bills at all". The researchers found that 45.1% of families were among families who reported having financial difficulties because of their health care bills and 18.9% that they were unable to pay their bills. Low- and high-income individuals, as well as insured and uninsured individuals reported financial hardship and inability to pay; However, the heaviest financial burden and inability to pay were reported among uninsured and low-income individuals.

The authors also reported that nearly one in three ASCVD patients whose medical expense bills were in financial difficulty, reported suffering financial hardship, cutting basic amenities such as food or not taking the necessary medications . One in five patients unable to pay medical bills reported the three situations.

"Our study highlights the fact that while insurance coverage is essential to protect against the risk of financial burden badociated with unanticipated medical bills, the current insurance structure does not protect against financial hardship," he said. declared Nasir. "The vast majority of ASVCD people who report problems paying their bills and paying them over time are insured."

The limitations of the study include the fact that the concept used to define financial hardship from medical bills was based on the data available in the survey. In addition, the issue that concerned not only a person, but also if household members were in financial difficulty because of medical bills, excludes a direct badessment of the proportion of medical bills related to the ASCVD. However, a recent study has shown that health spending for patients with ASCVD accounted for an average of 70% of all family-financed health expenditures.

Provided by
American College of Cardiology