Hospitals are increasingly demanding surgeries including childbirth are paid for up-front, forcing some Americans to delay vital health procedures

Increasing numbers of Americans are sharing they are getting asked to pay medicals bills in advanced in order to receive vital health treatments.

Hospitals have resorted to requiring patients to pay for services in order to receive them, in an effort to battle debt as costs of operations rise. In the past, hospital would typically bill patients after a procedure. 

U.S. hospitals have provided more than $620 billion in uncompensated patient care over the last 20 years, the American Hospital Association reported in 2020.  

To combat the growing number of care that goes unpaid for, social media users are saying hospitals are increasingly asking them to pay in advance.

'Yo MedStar Health what's with this b******t pay before a surgery? My options are either scramble for $6k in two weeks and not pay bills after or not walk and be in pain? Cool cool,' said Robert Crews on X.

Hospitals have resorted to requiring patients to pay for services in order to receive them, in an effort to battle debt as costs of operations rise

'My partner has to have hip surgery on April 11. We've already sunk $1k+ into the pre-surgery costs and set up payment plans for after,' said Morgan Lee.

'The doc called 20 minutes ago saying that if we can't pay $554.89 before April 9, the surgery won't happen.'

'We're already barely making rent and bills as it as it is, with things just getting tighter without partner's income during recovery,' Lee said. 

 'My 2nd grader developed appendicitis overnight. The hospital required a $1,463.93 pre-payment in the ER before they would take him for an emergency surgery but no one could tell us how they calculated that amount. Our ER copay is $250 and it's waived if you are admitted,' Dr. Emily Porter on X.

'This seems to be a new thing for hospitals. I had a scheduled knee surgery last month and the hospital called me at least 5 times in the few days before asking me how much of my estimated costs I wanted to pay up front. Asked again on admission too. My answer? Bill me,' said a user named Andy.

Approximately 23 percent of what patients owe is collected by hospitals before treatment, according to an analysis of first-quarter data this year from 1,850 hospitals by healthcare consulting and software company Kodiak Solutions, reported The Wall Street Journal.

'No one would say "pay up or we won't treat you," but we're saying you have a large out-of-pocket cost and we want to know how are you going to pay for it,' Jonathan Wiik, a principal at TransUnion Healthcare, told Consumer Reports.

However, a KFF Health Care Debt Survey found that 41 percent of adults in 2022 had some debt caused by medical or dental bills.

Three in ten of those who do not currently have health care debt – are vulnerable to falling into debt, according to the survey. They said they would be unable to pay a $500 unexpected medical bill without borrowing money.

The trend of hospitals asking for payment in advance has many worrying they will not be able to receive care until they pay up - even delaying necessary treatment. 

'I have an echocardiogram in 2 weeks, and now I've just received notice that I will owe $1445.50 at check-in based on my estimated insurance coverage,' said one Reddit user.

'This appointment was made months in advance, and this entire time I've been planning to negotiate a fair monthly payment after the appointment. There is absolutely zero chance I will have that much to give them now with two-weeks notice.'

'Has anyone else been expected to pay at check-in and not been able to? Will they really turn me away,' the user asked. 

Federal law requires hospitals to treat patients in emergency medical conditions regardless of if they can pay for it.