Every day, millions of people are forced to choose between their own health and their families’ financial well-being. For low- and moderate-income families, this is a painful choice.
Despite having health insurance, one in five adults have received a surprise medical bill from an out-of-network provider in the past two years alone. For many consumers, these bills have created serious financial burdens for themselves and their famil... [ Blog ]
Statement of Emily Stewart, executive director of Community Catalyst, in response to the Senate Democrats’ blueprint for ensuring people across the country can get quality, affordable health coverage and care. [ Press Release ]
Who might guess that doing the right thing – going in to be tested for the novel coronavirus after the onset of flu-like symptoms following a trip to China – could result in a surprise medical bill of more than three thousand dollars. This ... [ Blog ]
When it comes to health care, 2019 was an intense year full of many challenges and also some bright spots. As it recedes in the rear view mirror, let’s take a look at some of the key developments from 2019 and what they might portend for the futu... [ Blog ]
Center Business Development Manager Mark Rukavina is quoted in an NPR Shots article produced by ProPublica and MLK50 exposing how a privately held physician group working within non-profit hospitals in the Southeast has been suing patients for payment. [ News Clip ]
For decades, Community Catalyst has supported initiatives that reduce the financial exposure people face from medical bills. [ Blog ]
Center Senior Advisor Jessica Curtis and Business Development Manager Mark Rukavina authored this MLK50.com article suggesting ways Methodist University Hospital in Memphis can address the consumer harms inflicted by past aggressive collection practices. [ News Clip ]
Trump recently laid out broad principles and called on Congress to pass legislation that ends surprise medical billing. Unfortunately, those principles fall short of outlining the protections consumers need. [ Blog ]
An audio conversation with Marc Cohen, Center research director, and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, about a study the LTSS Center is conducting for the National Council on Aging (NCOA). [ News Clip ]
Community Catalyst's deputy director, Sue Sherry, talks about the pervasive problem of medical debt in Mississippi. [ News Clip ]
This blog is part of a series highlighting recent research illustrating various benefits of expanding Medicaid - from improving health and state budget savings to reducing rates of uninsurance and uncompensated care costs. [ Blog ]
A recent Health Affairs study on hospital profitability has been garnering national press attention for finding that seven of the “Top 10” most profitable hospitals were non-profits. These findings will likely reverberate in states where po... [ Blog ]
This paper seeks to inform state and local efforts to strengthen the connection between hospital community benefit programs and health equity investments in Connecticut. [ Publication ]
Community Catalyst’s Free Care Compendium summarizes the free care laws and regulations in each of the fifty states. The Compendium also includes national snapshot of regulatory and legislative trends across the states. [ Resource ]
Community Catalyst and other organizations weigh in with the IRS and Treasury on requirements for charitable hospitals that help patients address the financial toll hospital bills can take. [ Comment Letter ]
Community Catalyst, along with 56 other organizations, submitted comments regarding the community health needs assessment for tax-exempt hospitals to the Internal Revenue Service [ Comment Letter ]
This report from The Access Project and Community Catalyst show that many non-profit hospitals are not doing enough to meet AHA guidelines to have clear, written policies to help patients determine if they qualify for charity care and to make these polici [ Publication ]
The number of Americans paying more for health insurance policies that cover less has increased 60 percent since 2003. This report outlines the implications of the growing "underinsurance" problem, identifies two primary factors that put people at risk, [ Publication ]
This model act and commentary can serve as a baseline for policymakers and stakeholders as they develop legislation to establish standards and oversight procedures for hospital financial assistance programs. It can be used side-by-side with the interacti [ Publication ]
A report on the challenges uninsured and underinsured patients encounter in getting information about hospital financial assistance programs [ Publication ]
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States.
Choose a state to learn more about our partners