The Hidden Cost in Your Health Premium: Why Surprise Billing Affects Everyone

A 2020 study revealed that the bills you never see may be quietly inflating what you pay every month and the reason why might surprise you.

There is a number hiding in your monthly health insurance premium that you have never seen, never agreed to, and most likely never heard of. It is not a line item. It does not appear on any statement you receive. But according to a growing body of health economics research, it is there embedded in what you pay, year after year, whether you have ever received a surprise medical bill or not. The story behind this hidden cost begins not in a hospital room, but in the offices of policy researchers trying to understand...