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The days when employees and dependents will use paper checks to pay medical bills may be ending.
Health care payment analysts at J.P. Morgan put data on the dwindling use of paper checks in the financial services company's latest health care payment trends report.
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The analysts used survey data and other data from InstaMed, J.P. Morgan's health care payment technology business.
The analysts found that only 17% of the consumers surveyed regularly mail in paper checks to pay bills and that only 6% prefer to pay medical bills with mailed paper checks.
Use of paper checks may be shrinking rapidly: In 2023, a team sponsored by American Express found that 27% of patients were still paying medical bills with paper checks.
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The survey comes as the administration of President Donald Trump is trying to phase out use of paper checks in federal government processes.
For employers and their benefits advisors, one takeaway may be that the shift toward electronic payment processes may continue to accelerate.
The most popular way to pay bills is through the health care provider's website: About 35% of the survey participants said they preferred that option, according to the J.P. Morgan analysts.
Roughly 17% preferred to pay medical bills through the health plan's website; 13% in-person, during a medical visit, with a debit card or credit card; and 7% through a bank's website.
About 4% said they preferred to pay for care in person, during the visit, with either cash or a paper check.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
