How about Trump trying to get rid of the ACA in the middle of a pandemic? 20 million people rely on ACA for health insurance and he has no other plan in the works. It's heartbreaking.

If you are uninsured, the US gov't is picking up the tab, paying the hospital at the same rate as if the patient was on Medicare. In turn, the hospital has to agree to not bill the patient for any gaps between what Medicare would pay & the hospitals usual charges.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/trump-administration-says-it-will-pay-hospitals-for-treating-uninsured-covid-19-patients/2020/04/22/3df5fbb4-84b5-11ea-878a-86477a724bdb_story.html

When things start to shake out, we're going to hear stories of hospitals racking up non-covid deaths to covid in order to collect the gov't covid reimbursement. I've already heard one from a fairly reliable source. If true, then this is distorting the # of real deaths attributable to the coronavirus.

I see difficulties in using a story about uninsured to relate to those with insurance.

Then you do the research of those parameters and report back to us. I'm sure that everyone will appreciate learning what you discover.

The key here is to contribute in a constructive way.

The OP wasn't exclusively about the covid costs to the insured...'Even with insurance it's got be overwhelming.'

I was contributing information that I remembered having read; so happens, that info relates to those without insurance.

https://www.littlethings.com/coronavirus-huge-hospital-bill/

I deleted my comment since it was offensive. However I do wonder at direction the dual posting about uninsured patients and hospitals that attempt to scam. Some insurance companies have already made provision to cover catastrophic claims because of the virus that go over the maximum. Without doing this with the cost of a hospital stay people who have long term hospitalizations would become basically uninsured when the maximum out of pocket is reached. There are some people who apparently believe that unless someone dies from the Corona virus they should not be counted. That is similar to stating that if a person has an illness and their body starts breaking down internally because of the affect of the illness their death certificate should not list the that disease since that is not the direct cause of death.

cilantro said

" I've already heard one from a fairly reliable source. If true, then this is distorting the # of real deaths attributable to the coronavirus."

Oh my, do you realize how absurd this comment is? Please share your fairly reliable source. First name Sean or Rush?

The US now has more cases and more deaths than any country in the world, by a wide margin, and it's getting worse. Is this because of hospitals fiddling with their Medicare billing?

However I do wonder at direction the dual posting about uninsured patients and hospitals that attempt to scam.

Would it have been better if I had made two postings? One for the WaPo link and another separate post for the anecdote? Which was clearly stated to be anecdotal?

Given all the cases we've heard about involving practices/ doctors involved in Medicare billing scams? Since the gov't is reimbursing hospitals for their costs for caring for uninsured patients effectively extending Medicare to uninsured covid sufferers? Anyway, that is how I arrived at the connection between the two.

I'm sure that you realized the question about the gap between billing & coverage for insured patients is unanswerable. Depends on the what the coverage the individual elected to purchase...and possibly external pressure on insurance companies? (the latter is a question)

Oh my, do you realize how absurd this comment is? Please share your fairly reliable source. First name Sean or Rush?

A frail attempt at humor? Since I consume zero radio and less than 90 minutes a week of television, would be more appropriate to ask if my source was Bart Maverick, Matt Dillon or, more appropriately, Doc. Except they're all dead. Since all I watch is a narrow selection of vintage westerns. Semi local story told to me by a friend who is a doctor whose friend was the attending physician. 'Fairly reliable' to account for inaccuracy/ distortion in the retelling.

Oh...only 90 minutes a week now because the Brewers aren't playing baseball.

What you reported, cilantro, could be happening, but a friend of a friend isn't really "fairly reliable." More like gossip.

I'll try again:

The US now has more cases and more deaths than any country in the world, by a wide margin, and it's getting worse. Is this because of hospitals fiddling with their Medicare billing?

My biggest objection to Obama Care is that they took the ONLY life-sustaining durable medical equipment (supplemental oxygen) and get the benefits so drastically that the majority of companies who did home oxygen got out of the business. The companies can barely break even and with portable units, they will lose money.

Since I have lung damage I dreaded the thought that I would be pinned to a tank. While the battery life of the portable units is not as long as I would like if/when I do need supplemental oxygen I will not be stuck at home because an oxygen tank large enough for a full day away, 10-12 hours, would have been to heavy for me to carry around. I smile when I see someone out and about with one of the portable units.

What you reported, cilantro, could be happening, but a friend of a friend isn't really "fairly reliable." More like gossip.

I understand. In your shoes, I would classify it the same way. You have no way to form an opinion of the credibility of my source.

What has caused more suffering, cases and deaths - inaction and denial from the federal government, or hospitals fiddling with Medicare billing (which is illegal anyway and most don't do that)?

The US has more cases and deaths than any country in the world, and it's getting worse, The EU will bar American air travelers starting July 1.

Is this because of medical chart falsifications? The truthful answer to my question is NO and the real answer is obvious to people who can consider facts without politics.