Consumers are stressed out not only about the rising cost of health care but also the often-confusing process of determining how much they will actually owe.

"On average, even folks who are insured through some type of employer plan are ultimately paying about 30% to 33% of their health care costs," said Vincent Tammaro, CFO of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "I think that is really contributing to a lot of the angst from a patient/consumer standpoint."

According to the 2024 Healthcare Financial Experience Study from the patient financial engagement platform Cedar:

• Nearly three-quarters of consumers said affordability is the biggest challenge to paying larger health care bills;
• 58% find paying a health care bill to be stressful; and
• 18% can't understand their health care bills and benefits.

Providers also are feeling the effects of challenging economic conditions, with slower growth and high inflation affecting profit margins. Approximately half of U.S. hospitals finished 2022 with a negative profit margin as higher costs outpaced revenue increases. As a result, some providers have resorted to extreme methods to collect money and stay afloat with razor-thin margins.