The costs of health care products and services continue to rise briskly, significantly outpacing currently low inflation rates. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average household's spending on health care after inflation has been rising by about 1.4% each year. Retirees have been particularly hard hit, with inflation-adjusted out-of-pocket costs rising by more than 2% each year as a result of increased spending on prescription drugs.

While insurance is the most common form of payment for healthcare services, increasingly customers are paying for their own expenses. Pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic companies, should recognize that a part of their revenues are originating directly or indirectly from out of pocket expenditures. Unique financial services have been created to facilitate non-insurance-paid health care services, and more are expected to be created in the near term.

This report, Out of Pocket Healthcare 2011 focuses on those costs of health care which are not paid for by government or private insurance. Once a small percentage of costs of the health care system, the percentage borne by the consumer is increasing steadily. Included in the report is:

• Estimates of the Current 'Out of Pocket' Healthcare Spending Market and Forecasts to 2015.

• Breakdown of Spending by Type (Elective, Hospital, Emergency Room, Dental, Vision Outpatient, Prescription Drugs, Office Based Visit, Other)

• Health Care Reform and Its Impact on Out of Pocket Spending

• Statistics For the Types of Consumers Most Likely to Pay Out of Pocket

• Drivers of the Out of Pocket Trend and Potential Limiters

• Overview of the U.S. Healthcare System, Insured and Uninsured Population.

• The Types of Services and Products Purchased with Out of Pocket dollars

• Overview of the growing Healthcare Finance market and a look at key competitors.

The economic recession of December 2007 to October 2009 represented a major downturn that led to broad-based cost-cutting, rising unemployment and reduced disposable income. The impact of the pullback - which some experts compared to the Great Depression of 1929 to 1934 - cannot be overstated. Comapny looks at what change has resulted in out of pocket expenditure for healthcare as a result of the recession and weak recovery.

As part of Company's trusted process, secondary research from government, medical and industry sources was utilized along with interviews with industry experts in the healthcare finance industry.

CHAPTER ONE: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Health Care Reform
• Impact of the Economy
• Out of Pocket Cost Drivers
  • Healthcare Inflation
  • Cost Shifting
  • Retail Clinics
• Out of Pocket Cost Limiters
  • Disease Management Programs
  • Part D
  • Generics
  • OTC Products
• Where Out of Pocket Dollars are Spent

CHAPTER TWO: THE STATE OF OUT OF POCKET HEALTHCARE SPENDING IN 2011

• Types of Expenditures
  • Insurance Co-Payments
  • Direct Payments
  • Premiums and Plan Fees
  • Cash or Check
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans and Lines of Credit
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Health Savings Accounts
  • Medical Financing
• Amount Financed
• Non-Elective Procedures and Prescription Drugs
• Distribution of Out-of-Pocket Spending on Non-Elective Procedures (Hospital, Emergency Room, Dental, Vision Outpatient, Prescription Drugs, Office Based Visit, Other)
• Consumers Who Pay Out of Pocket
  • The Uninsured and Underinsured
  • Medicaid Recipients
  • The Disabled
  • Senior Citizens
  • The Mentally Ill
  • The Obese
  • Persons with Chronic Conditions
• Healthcare Finance Competitors
  • Reliance Medical Finance
  • PFS
  • Med Direct
  • MedChoice Financial
  • E-Financing Solutions
  • CSI Financial Services
  • Credit Medical
  • Care Credit
  • Capitol One Healthcare Finance

CHAPTER THREE: OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENDITURES FORECAST TO 2015

• Out-of-pocket Expenditure Growth Drivers
  • Healthcare Inflation
  • Managed Care Cost Shifting
  • Retail Clinics
• Out-of-Pocket Expenditure Growth Constraints
  • Disease Management Programs
  • Part D
  • Generic Drugs
  • Rx-to-OTC Switches
• Forecasts
  • Expenditures by Type (Credit Card, Cash, Loans, Healthcare Financing Programs,HSA)
  • Payment Methods
  • Amount Financed
  • Consumers Who Pay Out-of-Pocket (Uninsured and Underinsured, Medicaid, Disabled, Senior Citizens, Mentally Ill, Obese, Persons With Chronic Conditions.)