Adjust Hospital and Healthcare Prices Depending on Income

 

To adjust healthcare prices depending on the person's income for things that their Health Insurance does not cover.

 

According to the Minnesota Department of Health the median income for a single person in Minnesota is $74,593. This

means that around half of the people living in Minnesota make less than $74,593. Healthcare prices can many times be too

much for a single person to pay without a long term payment plan, even with health insurance helping pay a portion of

these costs. LASIK-a laser eye surgery, costs around $4,000, and is a surgery that health insurance does not cover most

of the time. Although $4,000 isn't something that could make you go bankrupt, it is a decent amount of money that could

impact you if you pay all of it upfront. Even though payment plans are made to make paying things off like healthcare,

it creates a new issue of having to remember to make these payments.

It becomes more apparent that adjustable healthcare costs should be implemented once more common surgeries are taken a

look at. A very common surgery is gallbladder removal, and it can cost between $3,044-$6,321. On paper it may not seem

like much, but when 36% of people in Minnesota are living paycheck to paycheck it is obvious that this will take a big

hit on their financial state. According to a 2023 study, the average person in the U.S. spends around $14,570 on

healthcare which is nearly equivalent to 6 months worth of rent for an apartment. Using the low-income threshold chart

from mn.gov we can narrow down the adjustment rate for healthcare.

The chart indicates that low income is approximately; $24,000-$40,000 or less for a single person depending on the

county the person lives in. For a family of 2-3 people it's approx. $55,000-$100,000, for a family of 4-5 it's

$70,000-$120,000, and for a family of 6-7 or more it’s around $75,000-$150,000. Rounding it down further; 1

person-$30,000, 2 people-$60,000, 3-$80,000, 4-$85,000, 5-$100,000, 6-$90,000, 7 or more-$120,000. Using these numbers,

this bill would cause healthcare costs to be reduced by 3% for every $100 dollars they are below these thresholds, and

reduced by 1% if they are $1-$99 below. This bill will also only affect things that health insurance does not cost. The

passing of this bill would help many families all over Minnesota who are struggling to pay hospital bills due to

financial strain.

 

Healthcare costs-how much a hospital charges for various things (checkups, surgery, etc.)

Income-how much money a person/family makes in a single year

 

No funding needed.

 

For every first offense involving overcharging, the respective hospital will be fined $300 dollars for every $50 dollars

added to the cost. For every second offense, the fine will increase to $500 per $50 dollars upcharged. To ensure that

hospitals are following, this there will be audits every few months by the government.

 

8 months after the passing of this bill.