Medical Debt Becomes Consumer Debt with Credit Offers

One way for hospitals to decrease the levels of bad debt they’re carrying is to pass that particular buck on to credit cards.  Both banks and health insurers are offering consumers lines of credit to pay for health care.

According to an article running to the San Jose Business Journal, everyone from Aetna to Bank of America to Kaiser to UnitedHealth Group are hoping to take advantage of what they are forecasting to “huge business” in the next five to ten years.

For example, Aetna and Bank of America joined forces to offer a general purpose card with incentives to encourage health care spending.  UnitedHealth Group chartered Exante Bank to offer healthcare-specific lines of credit.

The consumer, of course, is still left owing, regardless of who is holding the debt. This solution does little to combat claims of overcharging uninsured patients that are being levied against hospitals, and doesn’t necessarily address the unpaid debt itself.  It does offer hospitals cleaner ledger books.