Monday, March 07, 2005
A storm for hospitals brews in Ohio
[Misti Crane and Geoff Dutton, "Nonprofit hospitals’ collection and charity policies under fire," The Columbus Dispatch, 6 March 2005.] (subscription required)
Greg Scandlen of The Galen Institute warned of intense media focus on hospitals almost every time he has spoken in Kansas, and if he is right then this new series from one of Ohio's major papers is probably just a preview of what will be coming around the country. The problem is that hospitals lack price transparency and inflate the prices they do eventually charge as a result of insurance company discounts and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement policies. The result is that the uninsured - perhaps those least able to afford such high costs - are stuck paying the full bill. Increasingly, questions of ethics are beginning to arise, and some are even dragging hospitals into court:
Nationally, free care and unpaid patient bills have shrunk to the lowest levels in two decades as a percentage of total hospital costs, according to American Hospital Association statistics.
Hundreds of hospitals are facing lawsuits questioning their charity policies, taxing agencies in some communities are forcing hospitals to pay, and patient advocates are pushing for more generous charity policies
Although charity care covers most of the poor and uninsured, some patients who cannot pay their bills may find themselves in court.
Local hospitals sometimes charge interest, file liens on homes and garnish wages, inflating the bills and marring a patient’s credit for years.
Hospitals in Illinois, Indiana and Connecticut have gone as far as having uninsured patients thrown in jail for failing to appear in court to answer for unpaid bills. That never has happened here, say patient advocates and hospital administrators.
But in Columbus, as in other places, the uninsured routinely are charged far more than others for the same care and procedures.
The government and private insurance companies negotiate with hospitals for rates that are well below the posted fees. But when billing those who don’t have insurance, hospitals charge and try to collect the full amount.
It’s the medical equivalent of expecting the uninsured to pay the sticker price for a new car while everyone else bargains, sometimes paying half or less.
[Misti Crane and Geoff Dutton, "Nonprofit hospitals’ collection and charity policies under fire," The Columbus Dispatch, 6 March 2005.] (subscription required)
Greg Scandlen of The Galen Institute warned of intense media focus on hospitals almost every time he has spoken in Kansas, and if he is right then this new series from one of Ohio's major papers is probably just a preview of what will be coming around the country. The problem is that hospitals lack price transparency and inflate the prices they do eventually charge as a result of insurance company discounts and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement policies. The result is that the uninsured - perhaps those least able to afford such high costs - are stuck paying the full bill. Increasingly, questions of ethics are beginning to arise, and some are even dragging hospitals into court:
Nationally, free care and unpaid patient bills have shrunk to the lowest levels in two decades as a percentage of total hospital costs, according to American Hospital Association statistics.
Hundreds of hospitals are facing lawsuits questioning their charity policies, taxing agencies in some communities are forcing hospitals to pay, and patient advocates are pushing for more generous charity policies
Although charity care covers most of the poor and uninsured, some patients who cannot pay their bills may find themselves in court.
Local hospitals sometimes charge interest, file liens on homes and garnish wages, inflating the bills and marring a patient’s credit for years.
Hospitals in Illinois, Indiana and Connecticut have gone as far as having uninsured patients thrown in jail for failing to appear in court to answer for unpaid bills. That never has happened here, say patient advocates and hospital administrators.
But in Columbus, as in other places, the uninsured routinely are charged far more than others for the same care and procedures.
The government and private insurance companies negotiate with hospitals for rates that are well below the posted fees. But when billing those who don’t have insurance, hospitals charge and try to collect the full amount.
It’s the medical equivalent of expecting the uninsured to pay the sticker price for a new car while everyone else bargains, sometimes paying half or less.
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