Many are pursued by collectors when they can't pay their bills or hospitals sell the debt.
Zipprich, 64, had spent a career in financial consulting. He owned a small bungalow in a historical neighborhood near the Fort Worth rail yards. His daughters, both teachers, and his four grandchildren lived nearby. He had health insurance and some savings, and he'd paid off his mortgage. Overall in Tarrant County, 27% of residents with credit reports have medical debt on their records, credit bureau data analyzed by KHN and the nonprofit Urban Institute shows. In Dallas County, it's 22%.
Johnson said the center, where she'd gone after a knee injury, initially said her visits would cost $60."Then they billed me hundreds," she said."I don't go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to because it's so expensive." Unlike drug companies, device makers, and many physician practices, most U.S. hospitals are nonprofit and must provide charity care as a condition of their tax-exempt status.
Other major systems in the area, including Baylor, Children's Health, and HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital company, did even better, KHN found. Cook Children's, the region's second major pediatric system, had an average operating margin of nearly 12%. "You might think that hospitals in communities where patients have a lot of debt would be less profitable, but that doesn't seem to be the case," said Anuj Gangopadhyaya, a senior Urban Institute researcher who worked with KHN onIn fact, the analysis found, there is no apparent relationship between the profits of hospitals in a market and how much medical debt residents have.
, a nonprofit that tracks costs nationwide. And in a state where most markets have relatively low medical prices, in-patient care at Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals was 13% more expensive than the national median in 2020.
More non-profit hospitals are needed...and more regulation as to regular and customary charges for services.
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All hospitals should be nonprofit
Is there anything in Texas not taking advantage of the citizens?
Our health care system may be expanding in this country, but our medical system seems to still be broken.
Media protects these hospitals, only doing general stories like this one. The reality is so much worse. Non profit hospitals screening for insurance then sending Medicaid patients miles away, or denying them care in the first place.
Healthcare, Educatuon and Incarceration should never follow a for-profit model. Greed corrupts all.
A uniquely American problem.
The Mercy Health System based in Janesville, WI with Javon Bea at the helm is a great example of this imbalance. I mean, the guy is the current CEO and he built a hospital WITH HIS OWN NAME ON IT. Meanwhile, the median income in JVL is about $48k.
Too many. Even supposed “non-profits.”
This type of medical debt us a purely US phenomenon. But at least you're not under the Socialist jackboot that is Universal Healthcare, like Canada, Australia, and Europe. Right?
The US 'healthcare' system is a travesty.
Asking sick ppl to navigate 🇺🇲's broken healthcare system is a form of abuse: physically & mentally I know!
It's TX No shock It's 🇺🇲 We have epic economic polarization No shock It's 🇺🇲 We don't have Universal health care, unless you're in the military, or Medicaid No shock
Curious to hear from those living in Europe, Canada, or other countries with single payer health care Do your hospitals flood TV and billboards with advertisements? Bragging how much better they are than the other hospital in the town next door… Our systems wastes so much $
Maybe for-profit health care was a bad idea
A travesty that this country has publicly traded health care companies
I’m sure forcing everyone to have had insurance played no part in that….
Not for profit my ass. They should either pay taxes or pay the patients over inflated bills. They are the problem and not the solution 🤬
HCA making billions while they cut back on essential personnel but they get their bonuses.
Texas tort reform rules limits what a medical provider can recover from you to something comparable to what an insurance company would pay rather than what the news media would tell you that procedure costs.
The United States desperately needs nonprofit reform. It's a massively abused system, as anyone who has worked in or with nonprofits can tell you.
OBAMA CARE!
Went to a Houston soccer match and could not even see the name of the team on their jersey.
As a Tarrant County resident, I can tell you that they aren't spending it on equipment. After living overseas, we were shocked when we moved here on how outdated the medical system is here in DFW. Yet they charge enormously more.
Biggest scam going. I haven’t paid a medical bill for ages. Never intend to pay another one
The USA Healthcare system does not favor the uninsured. Even those insured are faced with massive bills their insurances can't foot. To get a doctor's appointment now requires several months and I have top tier insurance. Might as well make everyone single payer and we all wait
Another perfect example of why we need Universal Healthcare, not Corporate-controlled, profit driven, half-assed care!
Healthcare should not be a for-profit industry.
Your telling us that their are organizations and people getting rich on people's medical care while those people are going broke? Well that seems bad
Allowing the rich to profit off of healthcare is a crime against humanity
Trust the science
Yeah.. and the Drs dont get that profit... shareholders do.. but the people blame drs.. and insurance..not the shareholders raking in trillions. IT never changes.. our people dont realize whos actually in control. Wealthy shareholders.. Not a government of the people.
Medicare for all.
THEEBlackleftie Puta que pariu estatiza logo essa merda