Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable

[Razoo]

Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending​

With a new surge on the horizon, federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable population.​

ADAM GAFFNEY

 

[Razoo]

At the stroke of midnight last Tuesday, the US government stopped covering the cost of Covid-19 testing and treatment for the uninsured. Funding for the Covid-19 Uninsured Program, established at the outset of the pandemic, had run dry, and Congress had failed to replenish it.

The uninsured can now be subject to ruinous medical bills after a Covid-19 hospitalization, a threat that will surely drive some to avoid seeking care; notably, one testing company has said it plans to charge uninsured patients $125 per Covid-19 test, a fine that will deter testing and hence disease control efforts. In two weeks, Covid-19 vaccine administration for the uninsured will also no longer be reimbursable, likely reducing timely access to vaccination.

With yet another pandemic wave looming on the horizon, the evaporation of support for a disadvantaged population at elevated risk of Covid-19 could worsen the spread and impact of this virus.

Two years ago, as Covid-19 first swept my state, my primary focus as a critical care physician was clinical work. I was seeing waves of patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia fill the ICU of the safety net Boston-area hospital where I still work today. But being a health care researcher as well, I worried about how our nation’s fragmented, inequitable health care system would cope with the pandemic.

With some 30 million Americans uninsured, and even more underinsured, I feared that high deductibles and copays would deter patients with respiratory symptoms from SARS-CoV-2 testing and delay their care—inadvertently contributing to viral spread and severe outcomes from this new disease. Though that outcome was attenuated by unprecedented measures taken by governments and insurers, we’re now inching toward a worst-case scenario.

While it’s true that it has always been arbitrary to institute universal health care for one illness, we ought to be pushing toward greater universality instead of retreating from it; American health care should become more like Covid-19 care rather than the reverse. Indeed, without change, the latter will be rationed by ability to pay at a moment when treatment breakthroughs have made the need for speedy access to medical care more urgent than ever.

In the spring of 2020, it seemed unlikely that the government would put into place so many provisions to finance pandemic care. An April poll found that about 1 in 10 Americans would avoid care because of costs even if they believed they had Covid.

My earliest Covid-19-focused research study estimated that nationwide some 18 million Americans at increased risk of severe Covid-19 due to advanced age or medical conditions were uninsured or underinsured. Nonetheless, the federal government outperformed my cynical expectations and took important if inadequate actions to provide semi-universal coverage for this specific illness.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, expanded by the CARES Act, required full coverage of Covid-19 testing by insurers, and provided funds (now depleted) for testing and treatment of uninsured Covid-19 patients.

Thus far, some $18 billion has been paid out for Covid-related care for the uninsured, including an average of $360 per uninsured personfor Covid-19 testing. The federal government would later also directly purchase—and freely distribute—Covid-19 vaccines, and it took a similar approach with monoclonal antibodies and the new oral antiviral pills.

Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending

With a new surge on the horizon, federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable population.

www.thenation.com

 

[Razoo]

This move will insure a ton more COVID/Variant cases in the USA which will kill more Americans........

 

[VySky]

This move will insure a ton more COVID/Variant cases in the USA which will kill more Americans........

Sequence of events to obtain insurance.
#1. Get a job
#2. Move out of mom’s basement
#3. Pause online gaming and porn
#4. Buy insurance (hint- may have to eat out less)

Then after all of that and one is still worried about a runny nose then I’m out of suggestions.

 

[The AntiDonald]

Sequence of events to obtain insurance.
#1. Get a job
#2. Move out of mom’s basement
#3. Pause online gaming and porn
#4. Buy insurance (hint- may have to eat out less)

Then after all of that and one is still worried about a runny nose then I’m out of suggestions.

That is one sinical reply. It may apply to the majority of the Trump Humpers that attacked our capitol, but there are millions of families out there that work, don't live at home, don't look at porn and still have problems affording basic health care.

What advice do you have for those people? I can't wait to hear your answer.

 

[code1211]

At the stroke of midnight last Tuesday, the US government stopped covering the cost of Covid-19 testing and treatment for the uninsured. Funding for the Covid-19 Uninsured Program, established at the outset of the pandemic, had run dry, and Congress had failed to replenish it.

The uninsured can now be subject to ruinous medical bills after a Covid-19 hospitalization, a threat that will surely drive some to avoid seeking care; notably, one testing company has said it plans to charge uninsured patients $125 per Covid-19 test, a fine that will deter testing and hence disease control efforts. In two weeks, Covid-19 vaccine administration for the uninsured will also no longer be reimbursable, likely reducing timely access to vaccination.

With yet another pandemic wave looming on the horizon, the evaporation of support for a disadvantaged population at elevated risk of Covid-19 could worsen the spread and impact of this virus.

Two years ago, as Covid-19 first swept my state, my primary focus as a critical care physician was clinical work. I was seeing waves of patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia fill the ICU of the safety net Boston-area hospital where I still work today. But being a health care researcher as well, I worried about how our nation’s fragmented, inequitable health care system would cope with the pandemic.

With some 30 million Americans uninsured, and even more underinsured, I feared that high deductibles and copays would deter patients with respiratory symptoms from SARS-CoV-2 testing and delay their care—inadvertently contributing to viral spread and severe outcomes from this new disease. Though that outcome was attenuated by unprecedented measures taken by governments and insurers, we’re now inching toward a worst-case scenario.

While it’s true that it has always been arbitrary to institute universal health care for one illness, we ought to be pushing toward greater universality instead of retreating from it; American health care should become more like Covid-19 care rather than the reverse. Indeed, without change, the latter will be rationed by ability to pay at a moment when treatment breakthroughs have made the need for speedy access to medical care more urgent than ever.

In the spring of 2020, it seemed unlikely that the government would put into place so many provisions to finance pandemic care. An April poll found that about 1 in 10 Americans would avoid care because of costs even if they believed they had Covid.

My earliest Covid-19-focused research study estimated that nationwide some 18 million Americans at increased risk of severe Covid-19 due to advanced age or medical conditions were uninsured or underinsured. Nonetheless, the federal government outperformed my cynical expectations and took important if inadequate actions to provide semi-universal coverage for this specific illness.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, expanded by the CARES Act, required full coverage of Covid-19 testing by insurers, and provided funds (now depleted) for testing and treatment of uninsured Covid-19 patients.

Thus far, some $18 billion has been paid out for Covid-related care for the uninsured, including an average of $360 per uninsured personfor Covid-19 testing. The federal government would later also directly purchase—and freely distribute—Covid-19 vaccines, and it took a similar approach with monoclonal antibodies and the new oral antiviral pills.

Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending

With a new surge on the horizon, federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable population.

www.thenation.com

It will be interesting to see if the lack of bonus payments to classify patients as Covid Patients reduces the number of patients that are classified as Covid Patients.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending​

With a new surge on the horizon, federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable population.​

ADAM GAFFNEY

Republicans killing people yet again.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

It will be interesting to see if the lack of bonus payments to classify patients as Covid Patients reduces the number of patients that are classified as Covid Patients.

That never happened.

 

[Razoo]

Sequence of events to obtain insurance.
#1. Get a job
#2. Move out of mom’s basement
#3. Pause online gaming and porn
#4. Buy insurance (hint- may have to eat out less)

Then after all of that and one is still worried about a runny nose then I’m out of suggestions.

YOU conservatives use those comments so often when there is no foundation. NOT every employer offers insurance, most coverages = under insured , not every Mom has a basement and so damn many cannot afford medical insurance whether they eat out or not.

INsurance corporations golden parachutes aka retirement benefits for UPPER LEVEL executives is reckless spending of health care dollars beyond reality.

Health Insurance giants blowing $1,000,000 health care dollars a day to defeat OBAMACARE and SInglepayer was reckless, negligent, irresponsible, unacceptable and dumb as hell management of
health care insurance dollars. Then the white collar boys and girls send consumers a higher bill for
insurance after that escapade.


Hey VySky who pays for your insurance?

Under this situation because republicans laughed at COVID 19 instead of preparing thus the GOP is liable across the board. And because of that the USA should have a minimum 10 year budget for this virus. No questions asked and no more stupid remarks please.

 

[Razoo]

It will be interesting to see if the lack of bonus payments to classify patients as Covid Patients reduces the number of patients that are classified as Covid Patients.

YOU seem to have BS for breakfast everyday.

 

[Razoo]

"Ending federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable"
increases the risk of spreading the virus and such many times over.

The GOP should resign immediately due negligent behavior. And these people receive a high dollar pay package for this type of thinking = what the hell.

 

[code1211]

Republicans killing people yet again.

Only a completely indoctrinated mindless drone would agree with the thought you post here.

 

[code1211]

That never happened.

And yet you are outraged that it stopped.

 

[code1211]

YOU seem to have BS for breakfast everyday.

You seem to be joining another here who is asserting that the thing you never say never happened is being ended.

Interesting view.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

Only a completely indoctrinated mindless drone would agree with the thought you post here.

lol, irony can be pretty ironic.

 

[Gateman_Wen]

And yet you are outraged that it stopped.

You obviously have no real understanding of what's being discussed here.

 

[Chillfolks]

Seems like a great opportunity for a charity to be formed to cover this.

 

[Razoo]

Republicans are throwing millions of humans under the bus..........

 

[code1211]

lol, irony can be pretty ironic.

So true.

 

[code1211]

You obviously have no real understanding of what's being discussed here.

Money paid by the government to providers who define patients in ways that allow the money to be received.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

Sequence of events to obtain insurance.
#1. Get a job
#2. Move out of mom’s basement
#3. Pause online gaming and porn
#4. Buy insurance (hint- may have to eat out less)

Then after all of that and one is still worried about a runny nose then I’m out of suggestions.

Are those the steps you used?

 

[Razoo]

YOU conservatives use those comments so often when there is no foundation. NOT every employer offers insurance, most coverages = under insured , not every Mom has a basement and so damn many cannot afford medical insurance whether they eat out or not.

INsurance corporations golden parachutes aka retirement benefits for UPPER LEVEL executives is reckless spending of health care dollars beyond reality.

Health Insurance giants blowing $1,000,000 health care dollars a day to defeat OBAMACARE and SInglepayer was reckless, negligent, irresponsible, unacceptable and dumb as hell management of
health care insurance dollars. Then the white collar boys and girls send consumers a higher bill for
insurance after that escapade.

Ten Reasons To Support Single Payer

1. Everybody in,nobody out. Universal means access to healthcare for everyone, period -- the desire of 81% of all Californians, as reported in a January, 2007 Field Poll.
2. Portability. Even if you are unemployed, or lose or change your job, your health coverage goes with you.
3. Uniform benefits. No Cadillac plans for the wealthy and Pinto plans for everyone else, with high deductibles, limited services, caps on payments for care, and no protection in the event of a catastrophe. One level of comprehensive care no matter what size your wallet.
4. Prevention. By removing financial roadblocks, a single payer system encourages preventive care that lowers an individual's ultimate cost and pain and suffering when problems are neglected, and societal cost in the over utilization of emergency rooms or the spread of communicable diseases.
5. Choice of physician. Most private plans restrict what doctors, other caregivers, or hospital you can use. Under a single payer system, patients have a choice, and the provider is assured a fair reimbursement.
6. Ending insurance industry interference with care. Caregivers and patients regain the autonomy to make decisions on what's best for a patient's health, not what's dictated by the billing department or the bean counters. No denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions or cancellation of policies for "unreported" minor health problems.
7. Reducing administrative waste. One third of every health care dollar in California goes for paperwork, such as denying care, and profits, compared to about 3% under Medicare, a single-payer, universal system.
8. Cost savings. A single payer system would produce the savings needed to cover everyone, largely by using existing resources without the waste. Taiwan, shifting from a U.S. healthcare model, adopted a single-payer system in 1995, boosting health coverage from 57% to 97% with little if any increase in overall healthcare spending.
9. Common sense budgeting. The public system sets fair reimbursements applied equally to all providers while assuring all comprehensive and appropriate health care is delivered, and uses its clout to negotiate volume discounts for prescription drugs and medical equipment.
10. Public oversight. The public sets the policies and administers the system, not high priced CEOs meeting in secret and making decisions based on what inflates their compensation packages or stock wealth or company profits.

Top 10 Reasons For Enacting a Single Payer Healthcare System

www.nationalnursesunited.org

 

[Razoo]

"Ending federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable"
increases the risk of spreading the virus and such many times over.

The GOP should resign immediately due negligent behavior. And these people receive a high dollar pay package for this type of thinking = what the hell.

Under this situation because republicans laughed at COVID 19 instead of preparing thus the GOP is liable across the board. And because of that the USA should have a minimum 10 year budget for this virus. No questions asked.

 

[Razoo]

Covid-19 Coverage for the Uninsured Is Ending​

With a new surge on the horizon, federal funds for treatment and testing will no longer be made available for the most vulnerable population.​

ADAM GAFFNEY

This stupid move is putting the nation at risk once again such that Trump lies did when COVID 19 invaded the USA. So what he hell is wrong with the ALEC Anti American Right Wing Nut Party?

Are the wealthy ones heavily invested in the pharmaceutical Vaccine markets and were watching their
guaranteed profits slowly slipping away as cases are allegedly dropping?

 

[code1211]

This stupid move is putting the nation at risk once again such that Trump lies did when COVID 19 invaded the USA. So what he hell is wrong with the ALEC Anti American Right Wing Nut Party?

Are the wealthy ones heavily invested in the pharmaceutical Vaccine markets and were watching their
guaranteed profits slowly slipping away as cases are allegedly dropping?

You are STILL consumed by the lies in this propaganda?

What will it take, how long will it take, to open your eyes to the reality around you in the real world?