Past experiences with surprise medical bills drive issue knowledge, concern and attitudes toward federal policy intervention.
Health Econ Policy Law
; 17(3): 298-331, 2022 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1921538
ABSTRACT
Scholars and journalists have devoted considerable attention to understanding the circumstances in which Americans receive surprise medical bills. Previous research on this issue has focused on the scope of the problem, including the conditions that are most likely to lead to surprise bills. However, the existing literature has almost exclusively relied on claims data, limiting our understanding of consumer experiences and attitudes toward policy changes to address surprise billing. Using a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of 4998 Americans, we analyze consumer experiences with surprise billing, knowledge of the issue, how concerned Americans are about receiving surprise bills and how past experiences influence policy preferences toward federal action on surprise billing. Our analysis demonstrates that knowledge and concern about surprise billing are the highest among the educated and those who have previously received a surprise bill. These factors also predict support for federal policy action, with high levels of support for federal policy action across the population, including among both liberals and conservatives. However, more detailed federal policy proposals receive significantly less support among Americans, suggesting that stand-alone policy action may not be viable. Our results show bipartisan support among American consumers for federal action on surprise billing in the abstract but no consistent views on specific policy proposals.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Attitude
/
Policy
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Health Econ Policy Law
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S1744133121000281
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