1 in 2 seriously ill Medicare enrollees struggles with bills

WA S HINGTON» More than half of seriously ill Medicare enrollees face financial hardships with medical bills, with prescription drug costs the leading problem, according to a study published Monday.

The study in the journal Health Affairs comes as legislation to curb drug costs for seniors languishes in Congress and the growing financial exposure of patients with insurance is getting more attention in the nation’s health care debates.

The survey findings were a surprise to researchers, since Medicare is considered relatively good coverage and most people have supplemental insurance to fill its gaps. After drug costs, the most often cited issues were hospital bills, ambulance rides and emergency visits.

“It points to a real issue that has gone under the radar,” said Tricia Neuman, a Medicare expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation who was not involved with the study and reviewed it for The Associated Press.

“Survey after survey shows that people are satisfied with Medicare, but this analysis shows that people with Medicare who have serious health problems can face very high out-of-pocket costs, and that’s an issue that hasn’t gotten much attention.”

All told, 53% of seriously ill Medicare patients said they had major trouble paying their medical bills.

More than a third reported using all or most of their savings to pay medical bills, 27% said they were contacted by a collection agency and 23% were unable to pay for basics such as food, heat and housing.

Nearly half reported emotional or psychological distress, and 1 in 4 said their medical costs had become a major burden on their families.

“We did not expect to see this extent of financial hardship in the Medicare population,” said Michael Anne Kyle, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at Harvard University.

She said lawmakers may need to devote more attention to the needs of Medicare beneficiaries with catastrophic costs.

The study defined seriously ill people as those with a condition that over the past three years required two or more hospitalizations and visits to three or more doctors.