Data Note: Public Worries About And Experience With Surprise Medical Bills

Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been working on legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills. As of February 2020, no legislation has been passed. The term “surprise medical bills” is usually used to describe charges incurred when an insured individual inadvertently receives care from an out-of-network provider, however there are various other scenarios in which patients might encounter medical bills that they weren’t expecting.

The February KFF Health Tracking Poll gauged public worries about and experience with unexpected and surprise medical bills.

TWO IN THREE ADULTS WORRY ABOUT UNEXPECTED MEDICAL BILLS

About two-thirds of Americans say they are either “very worried” (35%) or “somewhat worried” (30%) about being able to afford unexpected medical bills. This is...