Limitations of the Program for Uninsured COVID-19 Patients Raise Concerns

(By Karyn Schwartz and Jennifer Tolbert for Kaiser Family Foundation)

In early April, the Department of Health and Human Services stated that it would use money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Provider Relief Fund to reimburse providers for treating uninsured patients with COVID-19. Congress has allocated a total of $175 billion for that fund. However, as HHS continues to make grants available to providers using this fund, it is not clear how much is being reserved to reimburse providers who treat uninsured COVID-19 patients. Because Congress has not appropriated any money specifically for this purpose, the only money available for covering uninsured COVID-19 patients’ costs is the amount allocated from the provider relief fund. This raises questions about whether enough money is available to finance this care and if additional policy options are needed to more fully protect people who are uninsured.  Continue reading here…

Notice: The link provided above connects readers to the full content of the posted article. The URL (internet address) for this link is valid on the posted date; medicarereport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the link’s validity. Also, the opinions expressed in these postings are the viewpoints of the original source and are not explicitly endorsed by AMAC, Inc.; the AMAC Foundation, Inc.; or medicarereport.org