The Affordable Care Act eliminated out-of-pocket costs for recommended preventative care for most privately insured patients. However, a new study led by researchers at the University of Toronto has uncovered racial and economic disparities associated with the denials of insurance claims for preventative care.
The authors evaluated a sample of over 1.5 million patients in the United States who were seeking free preventative care from 2017 to 2020. According to their analysis, Asian, Hispanic, and Black patients were nearly twice as likely to have an insurance claim denied than White patients. Furthermore, among patients whose claims were denied, Asian, Hispanic, and Black patients averaged higher out-of-pocket costs. These disparities remained even when the authors adjusted for patient geography, service type, and insurer.
The authors believe their findings have important policy implications. They suggest medical providers and insurers implement uniform billing practices, establish regulations for clear coverage information for patients, provide billing guidance for physicians, and develop language assistant programs that can improve communication with patients of all backgrounds.
