Biomaterial Database

Fintech and medical expenses: What social workers should know. 2023

Mathieu Despard, and Sally A Hageman, and Maudia Ahmad

Department of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.

Individuals who cannot afford out of pocket medical expenses may reduce health care use, resulting in poorer health outcomes. To ease the situation, employers turn to financial technology ("fintech") health care credit applications. We examine whether an employer-sponsored credit fintech application (MedPut) helps employees manage medical expenses. Results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and probit regression models reveal MedPut users did worse financially and delayed health care due to cost more often than employees who did not use MedPut. Results may inform social work policy and direct practice perspectives on fin-tech and medical expenses.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D005102	Health Expenditures	The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.	Expenditure,Expenditures, Health,Health Expenditure,Out Of Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Cost,Out-of-Pocket Expense,Out-of-Pocket Payment,Expenditures,Expenditures, Direct,Expenditures, Indirect,Expenditures, Out-of-Pocket,Out-of Pocket Expenditures,Out-of-Pocket Costs,Out-of-Pocket Expenses,Out-of-Pocket Payments,Out-of-Pocket Spending,Cost, Out-of-Pocket,Costs, Out-of-Pocket,Direct Expenditure,Direct Expenditures,Expenditure, Direct,Expenditure, Health,Expenditure, Indirect,Expenditure, Out-of Pocket,Expenditure, Out-of-Pocket,Expenditures, Out of Pocket,Expenditures, Out-of Pocket,Expense, Out-of-Pocket,Expenses, Out-of-Pocket,Indirect Expenditure,Indirect Expenditures,Out of Pocket Cost,Out of Pocket Costs,Out of Pocket Expenditures,Out of Pocket Expense,Out of Pocket Expenses,Out of Pocket Payment,Out of Pocket Payments,Out of Pocket Spending,Out-of Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Expenditures,Payment, Out-of-Pocket,Payments, Out-of-Pocket,Spending, Out-of-Pocket
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000068217	Social Workers	Professionals who work with persons affected by social disadvantages such as POVERTY; mental and physical illness or disability, and social injustice. Their focus is on both the individual and his or her environment, including violations of their civil liberties and human rights.	Social Worker,Worker, Social,Workers, Social
D012947	Social Work	The use of community resources, individual case work, or group work to promote the adaptive capacities of individuals in relation to their social and economic environments. It includes social service agencies.	Service, Social,Social Intervention,Social Service,Social Service Intervention,Social Work Intervention,Intervention, Social,Intervention, Social Service,Intervention, Social Work,Interventions, Social Work,Service Intervention, Social,Services, Social,Social Interventions,Social Service Interventions,Social Services,Social Work Interventions,Work Intervention, Social