It’s bad enough that tens of thousands of Americans have become gravely ill as a result of the novel coronavirus and that tens of thousands more Americans have died. It’s horrifying that hospitals are now suing many of these people to cover the cost of the care they received. Because tens of millions of Americans are uninsured or underinsured, people who survive the virus, and their families, are not unlikely to face medical debt for the rest of their lives. Federal assistance programs are not protecting them.
Caitlin Owens reports for Axios that the Community Health Systems hospitals in Florida, Texas and Arizona are suing hundreds of patients to collect payment on medical bills ranging from $1,000 to more than $125,000. Many of these people are out of work and cannot afford to make even small monthly payments, let alone pay their full bill.
In one case, a patient had no insurance and made the hospital aware of that. He tried to leave the hospital, so as to avoid getting a large bill. But, the hospital would not let him. And, though he asked for financial relief, he could not get any. He has a part-time job and cannot afford to pay the hospital bill.
Note: The Trump administration directed some money appropriated by Congress for coronavirus relief to fund a program that is supposed to protect the uninsured from the cost of COVID-19 care. But, the program does not appear to be working a lot of the time. Hospitals and other health care providers can bill the federal government directly for COVID-19 care when it is the primary reason for hospitalization, and the federal government will reimburse hospitals at the Medicare rate. The New York Times reports that, in many cases, patients have an underlying condition and COVID-19 is not the primary reason for hospitalization. Still, there are many cases where hospitals and other providers inexplicably are choosing to bill their patients rather than the federal government.
Hospitals typically claim that they only sue patients after serious consideration, when they feel they have no alternative. But, whatever the hospitals’ considerations, the health care system is deeply flawed. Most of the time, Americans being sued are responsible for excessive health care costs over which they have no control and which they cannot afford.
Of course, hospitals need to be paid. But, they should be paid on a global budget, through the government. In that way, they would be guaranteed funds to provide care no matter the financial circumstances of their patients. And, patients could get the health care they need without worry about indebting themselves and their families.
The health care market is nothing like the market for other consumer goods, and payment for services should not work like those markets. People have little choice regarding the health care services they receive or the price they are charged for these services. Fortunately, people with traditional Medicare are protected from financial risk so long as they have supplemental coverage; people with private health insurance too often have little protection, and the uninsured have none.
Imagine if a restaurant could bill you for food they served that you never requested; now, imagine if they could charge you $250 for an entree and $175 for dessert. If you think that’s not analogous, hospitals can and do charge patients wildly inflated rates, such as $18 for a band-aid and $69,000 to set a broken bone.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Hospital rates out of control with private health insurance
- Half of health care spending goes to doctors and hospitals
- Financial incentives not improving quality in hospitals
- Thousands of Americans with medical debt arrested each year
- Coronavirus and hospital bills: Medicare v. private health insurance
