Customer-facing markets such as financial services and insurance have greatly benefited from real-time payments, and healthcare could be next. Frictions are rampant in the U.S. healthcare market, which is continuously at the center of debate regarding how to expand access and manage treatment costs. Real-time payments can address these pain points by granting claimants quicker access to funds and providing more precise data regarding insurance payments’ purposes. They also deliver more seamless experiences that consumers — and millennials in particular — have come to expect. The following Deep Dive highlights how real-time payments can disrupt and improve the healthcare industry.
A Prescription For More Efficient Payouts
The U.S. healthcare market saw a rise in high-deductible plans following the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), shifting a greater share of out-of-pocket payments, such as deductibles and co-pays, onto patients. This unintended side effect of the ACA has caused $7.5 billion in unpaid medical expenses each year, according to PYMNTS’ research.