Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, penned a March 28 op-ed in The Washington Post responding to claims that hospitals are the cause of medical debt.
Mr. Pollack said that the rise of high-deductible insurance plans is a major factor in the rise of medical debt in the U.S. The hospital lobbying group executive was responding to a report from the Urban Institute that found 79.7 percent of low-income people with medical debt owed it to hospitals.
Mr. Pollack pointed to the current financial strain on hospitals due to uncompensated care during the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of the value hospitals provide communities.
"The last thing that hospitals want is for their patients to face financial barriers," Mr. Pollack wrote. "That's why hospitals go to great lengths to help patients understand their health coverage and financial obligations for care, which is based, in large part, on their insurance."