Can any of you answer this question about covid-19 deaths?

[wcsu1975]

Fact check: Medicare pays hospitals more money for COVID-19 patients

"Jensen said he thinks the overall number of COVID-19 cases have been undercounted based on limitations in the number of tests available."


From the article.

 

[Overitall]

"Jensen said he thinks the overall number of COVID-19 cases have been undercounted based on limitations in the number of tests available."


From the article.

Yes, I read that. Hospitals can only claim those that have been tested. How else can they confirm a patient has Covid without a test. Guess?

 

[LetsGoBrandon]

The federal government pays a bounty for covid-19 deaths. It can be as high as $29,000 plus and extra 20% for medicare - each. No test showing covid-19 is required nor is there any auditing. I've read only 6% of covid-19 deaths did not give other contributing illnesses. As a result, people who have died in car accidents or in hospice care for cancer, COPD and other end of life reasons have been financially rewarded for claiming it was a covid-19 death.

My question is...

Does any other country in the world pay a bonus of tens of thousands of dollars each for reporting deaths as covid-19 deaths - only covid-19 deaths?

That tactic did not start with Covid 19 or with the US. For instance it's known that the number of HIV cases in Africa is similarly inflated in order to get more aid from the US, the UN, etc.

 

[Overitall]

That tactic did not start with Covid 19 or with the US. For instance it's known that the number of HIV cases in Africa is similarly inflated in order to get more aid from the US, the UN, etc.

Interesting. I haven’t heard of this but I can imagine it being done.

 

[minnie616]

Yes, I read that. Hospitals can only claim those that have been tested. How else can they confirm a patient has Covid without a test. Guess?

Deaths may be confirmed as a Covid 19 death with a postmortem specimen.

 

[Overitall]

Deaths may be confirmed as a Covid 19 death with a postmortem specimen.

Coronavirus Testing For The Dead? It Can Help Reveal The Scope Of The Pandemic : Shots - Health News : NPR

"Postmortem testing is helpful and important when it is balanced by the logistical feasibility of doing it," says Lorna Thorpe, a professor of epidemiology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. "When politics enters this space, it's nice to have confirmed cases so that it can't be critiqued."

 

[minnie616]

Coronavirus Testing For The Dead? It Can Help Reveal The Scope Of The Pandemic : Shots - Health News : NPR

I agree.

When tests were scarce They would look at the diffuse alveolar pattern damage that caused lung lesions in COVID-19 patients.

When it was learned (May IIRC) that Covid could cause strokes states could test samples they kept of stroke victims in earlier deaths to see if they qualified as Covid deaths.

 

[minnie616]

Coronavirus Testing For The Dead? It Can Help Reveal The Scope Of The Pandemic : Shots - Health News : NPR

I agree. They would look at the diffuse alveolar pattern damage that caused lung lesions in COVID-19 patients.

When it was learned (May IIRC) that Covid could cause strokes states could test samples they kept of stroke victims in earlier deaths to see if they qualified as Covid deaths.

Too late edit.

Even in March hospitals tested patients but too often the results took days .

From a March article

Michigan’s hospitals on Monday had hundreds of patients who tested positive for the coronavirus or were in the hospital awaiting test results.

With a steep rise in confirmed cases anticipated, and thousands of people across the state still awaiting test results, Monday’s numbers raised fresh questions about whether the state’s hospitals are equipped to handle a surge in infections.
...

Beaumont Health — Michigan’s largest health system — had 333 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 by Monday afternoon, and another 178 in the hospital awaiting test results. More than 300 more patients tested positive but were sent home to recover.
...

The jump in hospital patients with COVID-19 reflected the steep upswing in recent days of confirmed cases throughout the state and the country. The state jumped from 334 confirmed tests last Thursday to 1,328 on Monday, a virtual fourfold increase. Michigan had 15 reported deaths by Monday. Across the United States, more than 100 deaths were reported Monday, driving the national total past 500 deaths.

Oakland County residents with COVID-19 infections range in age from 14 days old to 95 years, according to county officials.

Alarm grows as Michigan hospitals begin to fill with coronavirus cases | Bridge Magazine