In this article you will find information about accelerated debt consolidation, debt elimination programs, debt elimination a scam.

Accelerated debt consolidation

Within the first two quarterly financial reporting periods of 2015, US hospitals have bested the full-year uncollectibles performance in each of the past three years. Since 2012, US hospitals have hit the uncollectibles benchmark in only one of the four quarterly financial reporting periods. In 2015, US hospitals have done it twice, in the first and second quarters of the year.

In second quarter 2015, US hospitals reported 3.66 percent of total gross revenue was written off as bad debt or charity, well below the benchmark for this major financial indicator, which is to hold charity and bad debt write-offs combined to 5 percent or less of total gross revenue. In addition to hitting the uncollectibles benchmark, US hospitals also improved upon their performance in the prior quarter, when US hospitals reduced total uncollectible write-offs to 3.69 percent of total gross revenue.

Debt elimination programs

Although the total percent of uncollectible write-offs were similar in first and second quarter 2015, the split between charity and bad debt write-offs shifted. In first quarter 2015, more than 40 percent of total write-offs were assigned to charity. By the second quarter, charity writeoffs made up just shy of 34 percent of total uncollectible write-offs. This lower percentage of charity write-offs naturally translated to a higher percentage of bad debt write-offs. In second quarter 2015, US hospitals reported slightly more than 66 percent of total uncollectible write-offs were assigned by bad debt, up from about 57 percent in the prior quarter.

When examined as a percent of total gross revenue, US hospitals reported 1.24 percent of second quarter total gross revenue was written off as charity, down from 1.59 percent in the first quarter. Bad debt write-offs increased from 2.10 percent of total gross revenue in the first quarter to 2.42 percent in the second quarter.

The ability for US hospitals to hold the line on uncollectible write-offs may be due in part to the increased level of health care coverage among Americans. Since the implementation of the health care marketplaces under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, there are more than 11.7 million Americans who have gained health care coverage through state-based and federally faci itated health insurance exchanges. In addition, there are many millions more who have gained coverage through expanded Medicaid programs and, for many young Americans, through their parents’ health plans as they now can retain that coverage until age 26.

Debt elimination a scam

The third enrollment period for the health care marketplaces opens in November, and estimates from the Congressional Budget Office are that up to 10 million more Americans will enroll for coverage effective in 2016. If the greater number of insured is a driving factor for hospitals being able to reduce charity and bad debt write-offs, the first and second quarter 2015 uncollectibles performance may be more than anomalies.

Higher insurance levels are not necessarily a panacea for eliminating uncollectible charity and bad debt write-offs. Most insured Americans have high-deductible health plans with out-of-pocket expenses in the thousands of dollars. These self-pay dollars are among the most difficult to collect, and higher levels of uncollectible write-offs typically align with higher levels of self-pay revenue.

If the greater number of insured is a driving factor for hospitals being able to reduce charity and bad debt write-offs, the first and second quarter 2015 uncollectibles performance may be more than anomalies. Self-pay dollars are among the most difficult to collect, and higher levels of uncollectible write-offs typically align with higher levels of self-pay revenue.

An upside to the potential for US hospitals to continue to hold charity and bad debt writeoffs in check is that job creation is up and unemployment is down. The downside, however, is that salaries remain stagnant.