The folks who invented the credit score for lenders are hard at work developing a similar tool for hospitals and other health care providers.
The project, dubbed “MedFICO” in some early press reports, will aid hospitals in assessing a patient’s ability to pay their medical bills. But privacy advocates are worried that the notorious errors that have caused frequent criticism of the credit system will also cause trouble with any attempt to create a health-related risk score. They also fear that a low score might impact the quality of the health care that patients receive.
The idea sounds ominous to Pam Dixon, who runs the World Privacy Forum, which studies medical privacy issues.
"This is a bad idea and I don't think this benefits the consumer at all," Dixon said. "And what about victims of medical ID theft? Are we going to deny treatment to these people because they have a terrible MedFICO score?"
Well I was looking for a doctor, which one's me...
An older family guy, or a young GP
But I didn't know my MedFICO was sick
'cause now i'm in a room waiting for Dr. Nick
F-R-E-E, that spells Free
MedFICOreport-dot-com baybee
saw their ad on my tv
woulda signed up but i'm too lazy
Now instead of getting meds and feelin' better
My leg is turning black and i smell like cheddar
F-R-E-E, that spells Free
MedFICOreport-dot-com baybee!
The wonderful world of our healthcare system just keeps on getting better and better! I'm so glad we don't live in a "nanny state" like the other 36 indutrialized countries in the world that have better healthcare systems than we do! And we get to pay at least twice as much as they do on top of it! What a deal!
Most people's insurance has a capped deductible of one kind or another, which limits their "out of pocket" financial responsibility. For instance mine is $400.00. You mean that a hospital, that is loath to admit a patient who is uninsured anyway, will first check to see if I have met my annual deductible and then determine whether or not I am financially able to meet any remaining balance? I hope I'm not waiting for an emergency appendectomy while they get my credit score! As for doctors the same thing applies. Plus their offices would probably have to add a staff person just to run credit checks. Im not sure I would want to see a physician who would insist on running a credit check first. Only if they post their malpractice suits, win, lose or settle, on the office wall above their diplomas.
The idea of credit checks for your health care is terrifying. Honestly how could anyone (outside of the billing people) think that this is a good idea?
Can you see the signs? Just like the used car lots. Bad Credit? No Credit? We'll get you approved for your Dr visit in five minutes or less!
So much for helping Americans get out of debt.
The idea of hospitals financing patients won't be far behind, charging interest on medical care is disgusting as if they aren't making money hand over fist as it is.
At some point it went from "Do no harm" to "Show me the money"