What hospitals can do about healthcare costs

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Kimberly Adams (0:37)

With rising inflation, consumers are pulling back where they can.

From Marketplace in Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams. Retail sales spiked last month. They were up 0.8% of a percent, but a big chunk of that was higher sales at gas stations, with the price of the pump going up. If you dig a little deeper, you'll see that there were some discretionary spending areas where consumers are pulling back. Sporting goods, hobbies, bookstore sales all fell after rising for most of the year. Marketplace's Stephanie Hughes looked into that.

Stephanie Hughes (1:10)

When you go into a hobby or sporting goods store, it's full of things you actually need for that hobby, say a fishing rod, and things you probably don't, say sandals shaped like large mouth bass.

Neil Saunders (1:22)

When money gets tighter, those are the kind of things that people will forgo.

Stephanie Hughes (1:27)

Neil Saunders is managing director with Global Data, and money is tight right now. Prices are up, wages aren't keeping pace, and the Fish Flip-Flop Fund is going towards essentials, like food and fuel.

Morning Consult economist Sophia Baig says, this is really hitting low-income consumers.

Sophia Baig (1:44)

Gas isn't a huge part of the budget, but it's something that people can't avoid, so it's taking a larger bite.

Stephanie Hughes (1:51)

Baig says one knock-on effect is that a growing number of companies are creating products aimed at a higher-income clientele.

Sophia Baig (1:58)

More and more a lot of the things are catered to the people who have the money to pay for it.

Stephanie Hughes (2:03)

She says even as necessities get more expensive, companies believe high-income people can still be relied upon to spend. I'm Stephanie Hughes from Marketplace.

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Kimberly Adams (3:58)

High healthcare costs continue to be a top concern for voters ahead of the midterms. A recent study from the Urban Institute found that more than one in four adults in the United States have medical debt. Some states are pushing hospitals to do more about that, to prevent patients from falling into debt. One way to do this has to do with requiring hospitals to offer financial aid earlier in the process. Melanie Evans is a producer with the non-profit health policy news organization, Tradeoffs. She's been looking into this and joins me now. Melanie, good morning.

Melanie Evans (4:33)

Hi, good morning.

Kimberly Adams (4:34)

So most hospitals do offer free or discounted care to low-income patients, but a lot of folks usually have to complete these lengthy applications, and they don't or they do it wrong and they miss out on aid. So what are some states doing to handle this differently?

Melanie Evans (4:51)

It's called presumptive eligibility. Hospitals automatically screen patients, they find those who qualify for help, and then they give it to them. But in most of the US, they get to sort of pick and choose.