Dec. 16, 2013 8:19 p.m. ET
A Better LA, a decade-old Los Angeles nonprofit, said last week it was signing up 50 low-income people for health plans in California's health-insurance marketplace. The charity, which said it has the blessing of the state agency overseeing the marketplace, will pay $50 to $100 a month to cover the share of the people's premiums not already financed by federal subsidies.
Those 50 people are at the vanguard of a push that could shift the balance between hospitals and insurers across the nation. Nonprofits, including some hospitals, say paying premiums would ensure coverage for people currently uninsured who can't afford even a small monthly payment for health insurance....
Heroes everyone. Health care insurers are actually upset over assistance to the Poor? This is ridiculous. By stating they don't want the Poor on their exchanges, Wall Street is saying the Poor are sicker and they aren't profitable. Really? I thought the day of "Picking the winners and losers" in the benefit of health was over.
Heroes everyone. Health care insurers are actually upset over assistance to the Poor? This is ridiculous. By stating they don't want the Poor on their exchanges, Wall Street is saying the Poor are sicker and they aren't profitable. Really? I thought the day of "Picking the winners and losers" in the benefit of health was over.
...Hospitals making such payments would be fulfilling the law's mission of extending coverage to millions of Americans, said Melinda Hatton, the American Hospital Association's general counsel. "We thought it was the kind of thing the Affordable Care Act would really support and encourage," she said.
But such plans have drawn criticism. "It is a conflict of interest for hospitals and drug companies to pay patients' premiums and cost-sharing for the sole purpose of increasing utilization of their services and products," said Karen Ignagni, head of America's Health Insurance Plans, the health-insurance industry's trade group....
This level of charity care has existed for a long time. There are actually hospital systems, usually government teaching hospitals, in the USA that extend a full access to the Poor in their states. The insurance companies never had to bear that burden because the government did. The state and federally funded hospitals absorbed the cost of the Poor. NOW. These folks have health care insurance. I'll be darn. So, instead of absorbing the costs of the Poor, the hospitals will finally have the care they provide paid for. Wall Street is crying about it because they never had to provide care for these people before and don't want the cost. Wall Street wants hospitals to continue to fail to continue their exorbitant profits.
...But insurers say they can't make a profit unless the health-insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act draw a balanced mix of healthy and sicker customers. The law's rocky start, many insurers fear, has already skewed the mix toward people in worse health. Help from nonprofits or hospitals could speed the arrival of less healthy customers into the exchanges, outpacing the arrival of younger, healthier people who might not cross paths with hospitals....
In many cases these individuals receiving care through charity care are young and have children and have been the ONLY method of receiving Well Baby Care.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expands on HIPPA and actually insures portability of insurance. Now, the Poor can actually CHOOSE their physicians and take the insurance with them if they find employment and/or are able to attend training for work that is available in the USA. Wall Street needs to shut up and put up, these people are just as mixed in health as any other population.
So, while the political Right Wing are saying the new health care insurance is unaffordable, Wall Street lawyers are playing with words and phrases in the law to bring about higher profits and depriving people of coverage. That is amazing. Ya know, we need Single Payer. That is the only thing that is going to end this circus.
One of the problems with the health care of the Poor in lack of continuity. The reason is because they accept care where they can find it. That means they don't necessarily have a primary physician so much as 'clinic care.' In 2011 a private foundation called, "The Commonwealth Fund" did a survey and found the inconsistent care was CAUSING poor health.
An international survey of adults (click here) living with health problems and complex care needs found that patients in the United States are much more likely than those in 10 other high-income countries to forgo needed care because of costs and to struggle with medical debt. In all the countries surveyed, patients who have a medical home reported better coordination of care, fewer medical errors, and greater satisfaction with
These are only four of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Fund. Something tells me they know what they are doing:
...But insurers say they can't make a profit unless the health-insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act draw a balanced mix of healthy and sicker customers. The law's rocky start, many insurers fear, has already skewed the mix toward people in worse health. Help from nonprofits or hospitals could speed the arrival of less healthy customers into the exchanges, outpacing the arrival of younger, healthier people who might not cross paths with hospitals....
In many cases these individuals receiving care through charity care are young and have children and have been the ONLY method of receiving Well Baby Care.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expands on HIPPA and actually insures portability of insurance. Now, the Poor can actually CHOOSE their physicians and take the insurance with them if they find employment and/or are able to attend training for work that is available in the USA. Wall Street needs to shut up and put up, these people are just as mixed in health as any other population.
So, while the political Right Wing are saying the new health care insurance is unaffordable, Wall Street lawyers are playing with words and phrases in the law to bring about higher profits and depriving people of coverage. That is amazing. Ya know, we need Single Payer. That is the only thing that is going to end this circus.
One of the problems with the health care of the Poor in lack of continuity. The reason is because they accept care where they can find it. That means they don't necessarily have a primary physician so much as 'clinic care.' In 2011 a private foundation called, "The Commonwealth Fund" did a survey and found the inconsistent care was CAUSING poor health.
An international survey of adults (click here) living with health problems and complex care needs found that patients in the United States are much more likely than those in 10 other high-income countries to forgo needed care because of costs and to struggle with medical debt. In all the countries surveyed, patients who have a medical home reported better coordination of care, fewer medical errors, and greater satisfaction with
These are only four of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Fund. Something tells me they know what they are doing:
James R. Tallon, Jr., Chairman (click here)
Mr. Tallon, president of the United Hospital Fund of New York, is recognized nationally for his leadership in health care policy.
Mr. Tallon, president of the United Hospital Fund of New York, is recognized nationally for his leadership in health care policy.
Cristine Russell, Vice Chairman
Ms. Russell is an award-winning freelance journalist who has written about science, health, and the environment for more than three decades.
Ms. Russell is an award-winning freelance journalist who has written about science, health, and the environment for more than three decades.
Maureen BisognanoMs. Bisognano, a prominent authority on improving health care systems, is president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
David Blumenthal, M.D. Dr. Blumenthal is president of The Commonwealth Fund. Prior to joining the Fund in 2013, he was the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief Health Information and Innovation Officer at Partners Healthcare System in Boston. From 2009 to 2011, he served as U.S. National Coordinator for Health Information Technology....
What does continuity of care mean? It means a person won't be wandering from doctor to doctor or hospital to hospital starting all over again every time they seek care. Continuity of care also means the Poor will be educated to what health care actually means and how to continue and/or improve their wellness and that of their family. It means IF the Poor are unwell, they won't stay that way. They won't DIE because there isn't a professional overseeing their progression to health from illness. Wall Street can go straight to hell and will not stand in the way of a healthier nation in the USA!
The USA has the highest cost of health care in the world. The insurance companies make plenty of money from the health care of the USA because it is the most expensive in the world. The USA will finally rein in the runaway costs of health care in the nation and find a healthier population which will bring down THE COST to everyone. One would think bring down the cost of health care rather than charity care and emergency room would be something the insurance industry would welcome. But, the fact of the matter is the more chaos a system has the greater the chance of making elicit and illegal money while people die. Why is it the Health Insurance Industry in the USA can't get on board with a nation of over $3.1 million people? Hm?
What does continuity of care mean? It means a person won't be wandering from doctor to doctor or hospital to hospital starting all over again every time they seek care. Continuity of care also means the Poor will be educated to what health care actually means and how to continue and/or improve their wellness and that of their family. It means IF the Poor are unwell, they won't stay that way. They won't DIE because there isn't a professional overseeing their progression to health from illness. Wall Street can go straight to hell and will not stand in the way of a healthier nation in the USA!
The USA has the highest cost of health care in the world. The insurance companies make plenty of money from the health care of the USA because it is the most expensive in the world. The USA will finally rein in the runaway costs of health care in the nation and find a healthier population which will bring down THE COST to everyone. One would think bring down the cost of health care rather than charity care and emergency room would be something the insurance industry would welcome. But, the fact of the matter is the more chaos a system has the greater the chance of making elicit and illegal money while people die. Why is it the Health Insurance Industry in the USA can't get on board with a nation of over $3.1 million people? Hm?
...Ms. Reaser said she likely still couldn't afford her share of the premiums, in part because she is still paying off $1,900 in hospital bills after two emergency-room visits last year—for an asthma attack and what she was told was a mild stroke.
Rowan Vansleve, the charity's chief executive officer, said the initiative came from a donor who watched news reports on the health law and was struck by how little it would cost to pay some people's premiums....
