12/27/2012    

MEDICAL ECONOMICS

Rising Patient Deductibles Spell Trouble for Doctors

Health plan deductibles are rising, and patient self-pay of deductibles is typically difficult for doctors to collect, meaning that increasingly more doctors may lose money on patient deductibles. This is according to athenahealth, a Watertown, Massachusetts, company that provides cloud-based services for medical groups.

"Benefit plans are shifting to include higher deductibles," says Tricia Andriolo-Bull, Vice President of Payer Strategy at athenahealth. "There's more cost-shifting in co-pays and co-insurance. The higher deductibles are a good way for employers to keep premium rates down. But any increase in self-pay is bad for the physician because it's hard to collect."

Source: Leslie Kane, Medscape News