The percentage of patients that didn't pay the full balance for hospital bills of $500 or less increased 15 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to a TransUnion Healthcare analysis. Here are five statistics.
1. Of the 63 percent of hospital bills that were at or below $500 in 2016, 68 percent weren't paid in full. That's compared to 53 percent not paid off in 2015.
2. In 2016, 14 percent of hospital bills amounted to $3,000 or more. Only 1 percent of those were paid in full.
3. Eighty-five percent of hospital bills between $500 and $1,000 weren't fully paid in 2016. Bills in that range represented 10 percent of all hospital bills.
4. By 2020, 95 percent of patients won't pay their bills in full, the report estimates.
5. The percentage of patients making partial payments toward hospital bills dropped from about 90 percent in 2015 to 77 percent in 2016.