New credit score to rate patients' ability to pay

A new credit score called medFICO, which would rate an individual's ability to pay medical bills, is expected to be introduced this summer at certain hospitals. (Source: Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, Jan. 2, 2008.) Created by health technology firm Healthcare Analytics, the score "would reflect on-time medical bill payments and would include only billing data, not information indicating the reason for treatment. Hospitals would check the score after a patient is discharged to help officials to decide whether a patient can afford to pay bills or whether hospitals should write the debt off as uncollectible." However, consumer advocates worry the "scores might lead lower-income patients with lower scores to receive poorer quality health care than those with higher medFICO scores."

According to another report on medFICO, "Hospitals and other health care providers are already able to check up on patients' regular credit scores without their permission, but indicate that those scores are not necessarily a good indicator of whether a patient will pay a medical bill. Regular credit scores are based on voluntary purchases, such as a car or home, whereas health care debt is largely involuntary." (Source: "Medical Industry Makes Plans to Rate Your Medical Bill Payment History," The Cleveland Leader, Jan. 8, 2008.)