Whatever good can be said about our current multi-payor health care system, it does not protect people from erroneous or surprise health care bills. What’s worse is that Congress is unable to do much about it. The CARES Act provides money to hospitals for COVID care for Americans without health insurance, so that they can get care without worry about the cost. But, most people are not told about this protection and are not protected from bills sent in error.
Blake Farmer reports for Kaiser Health News that hospitals are not always telling uninsured patients that they are covered and continue to bill them for the care they receive. Indeed, millions of uninsured patients are eligible for free or low-cost care and are unaware.
Farmer profiles one young healthy man, Darius Settles, who received COVID-19 care from his local for-profit chain hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He was between jobs, uninsured, and concerned about the cost. He ended up dying. And, no one told him that costs should not be a concern.
Under the CARES Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has contracted with hospitals across the country to cover the bills of uninsured COVID-19 patients. But, the program does not require hospitals to inform their uninsured patients that they are covered. And, it appears that most do not.
Consequently, many patients without insurance do not get needed COVID-19 care. Doctors generally are not aware of how the program works and do not inform their patients. Some feel uncomfortable guaranteeing costs will be covered, given that patients could end up receiving bills. Some do not want to raise cost as an issue.
And, hospitals often end up billing patients when they should not. Who’s to stop them? The for-profit chain hospital treating Darius Settles, HCA, sent his family a bill notwithstanding that his care was covered in full. The hospital told the reporter who followed up that the bill was sent “in error.”
In a single-payer Medicare for All system, everyone would have coverage, and hospitals would not bill patients for their care. Without Medicare for All, erroneous bills, surprise bills and overcharges will continue. Good luck fighting them.
Here’s more from Just Care:
