“Either the hospitals are inconsistent with the rules of ICD-10,” said Tom Nickel, executive vice president of the Hospitals Association, “or that patients are not being paid despite being clear.” Treatment of covid. ”
The public system at Houston’s two hospitals, Harris Health, did not bill federal funds for 80 percent of the approximately 1,300 uninsured Covid-19 patients treated in mid-July, as many of them had other medical problems – most likely sepsis, an infection. Reaction that causes blood-pressure loss and organ failure. In other cases, “an underlying health condition was the main reason for hospitalization, but it was exacerbated by Covid-19 disease,” said Brian McLeod, a spokesman.
Nationally, the average hospital charge for insured Kovid patients is 73,300, according to FIR Health, the health care costs database, although they may negotiate a lower amount.
Payments vary widely with some explicit disclosures; Providers in New Jersey, for example, have received 72 72 million in covid treatment claims, while in neighboring New York it has received half as much. Providers in severely affected Texas and Florida said Medicaid did not expand to cover more poor adults, receiving 4 144 million and 53 53 million, respectively.
“It’s not clear to me what’s going on,” said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who has closely watched the program and its claims database.
Despite its limitations, some hospital officials said they liked the program because it pays Medicare rates, which is much higher than any general funding they receive for Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, or charity care.
“This was a really progressive policy that we were clearly surprised by,” said Dr. John H. Snyder, chief executive of University Hospital in Newark, NJ. Sheriff Elnahl said 78 2.7 million has been received for the treatment of 78,877 insured patients with covid. His coronavirus patients.
