NORC polled 1,002 individuals from a nationally representative sample of Americans using the AmeriSpeak Panel, a probability-based panel NORC designed to be representative of the U.S. household population.
Of the respondents who said they’d been surprised by a medical bill, here are the five most common services they were charged for:
- Physician services: 53 percent
- Laboratory tests: 51 percent
- Hospitals or other healthcare facility charges: 43 percent
- Imaging: 35 percent
- Prescription drugs: 29 percent
The survey also asked respondents which groups — payers, hospitals, physicians or pharmacies — are most responsible for surprise medical bills. Here’s the proportion of respondents that said each group was “very” or “somewhat” responsible:
- Payers: 86 percent
- Hospitals: 82 percent
- Physicians: 71 percent
- Pharmacies: 64 percent
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