If you’ve ever received a surprise bill seemingly out of nowhere following a medical treatment or visit, you know how shocking and upsetting such an occurrence can be. Shock is quickly followed by confusion, frustration and anger. You’re not alone. In fact, a new statewide poll in Michigan of prospective voters says that when it comes to the question of who should bear financial responsibility when a patient receives unexpected, out-of-network medical bills, we overwhelmingly agree that the answer is insurance companies. The poll was conducted by Epic-MRA.
Dr. S. Bobby Mukkamala, MD, President of the Michigan State Medical Society, says, “The consensus is clear on this issue,” adding, “Across all geographies and demographic subsets, voters overwhelmingly believe that insurance companies should be the ones paying the tab when patients receive a surprise, out-of-network bill.”
In fact, 59-percent of survey respondents believe health insurance companies should be held financially responsible for surprise medical bills, with only 6-percent believing the burden should rest on patients, and 3-percent indicating that physicians and other medical providers should foot the bill.
Dr. Mukkamala adds, “There was really no ambiguity here on the question of who should be held financially responsible for surprising billing, and that isn’t that surprising considering nearly half of survey respondents also believe insurance companies are most responsible for creating this problem in the first place.”
48-percent of survey respondents believe health insurance companies are most responsible for patients receiving surprise medical bills, with hospitals receiving the next most responsibility at 20-percent.
Michigan lawmakers are currently considering HB 4459, which tackles the problem of surprise billing. The bill has passed through the House of Representatives and is now set to be considered by the Senate. Before sending the legislation to the Senate, the House added a provision that allows insurance companies to “reimburse” the patient instead of non-participating providers in these situations.
Dr. Mukkamala tells us, “As it’s currently written, HB 4459 shifts the burden of surprise billing onto the backs of physicians and puts patients firmly in the middle of any billing disputes, which is exactly what Michigan residents don’t want when it comes to dealing with this problem.” He adds, “As lawmakers continue to deliberate on how to best address surprise billing, they should know that sort of plan is completely misaligned with where Michigan residents are on this issue.”
The Epic-MRA statewide poll surveyed 600 likely Michigan November voters and has a margin of error of +/- 4 points. The survey was conducted by live interviewers starting on July 25, 2020 and running through July 30, 2020.
The Michigan State Medical Society is the statewide professional association of 15,000 physicians in Michigan and is affiliated with the American Medical Association. Physician policies on various issues involving public health, health care delivery and medical ethics are set at the annual MSMS House of Delegates meeting.
Here’s the first question posed in the survey:
In cases of surprise out-of-network medical bills – that is, bills for medical services patients expected would be covered by their insurance plan but instead are being asked to pay themselves – there are several sources that people say are responsible for the problem. While you might believe there are a combination of sources for them, which of the following do you believe has the MOST responsibility for consumers receiving surprise medical bills? Do you think it is . . .? [The surveyor would then read responses 1 through 5, rotating them in each call so that the first response option was not always the same, and they would code only one response in each survey) The results show:
- 48% Health insurance companies
- 20% Hospitals
- 7% Government health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid
- 7% Physicians and other medical professionals such as cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and neurologists
- 2% The patient
- 0% Lobbyists
- 0% Lawmakers
- Someone else (less than 1% each)
- 16% Undecided/Refused
The second question posed was this:
Regardless of whoever you believe is most responsible for surprise medical bills, who do you think should pay the extra costs of these types of billings? Do you think the extra cost should be paid by . . .? [Surveyors would use the same method as in the first question.] These were the results:
- 59% Health insurance companies
- 12% Government health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid
- 8% Hospitals
- 6% The patient
- 3% Physicians and other medical professionals such as cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and neurologists
- Someone else (less than 1% each)
- 12% Undecided/Refused
