Partly in response to allegations that hospitals “routinely” charge uninsured patients up to four times more for care than those with health insurance, hospital officials yesterday called on lawmakers to enact universal health coverage, saying it would help relieve the cost of caring for indigent patients, the Associated Press reports. The testimony was given at a meeting of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, which has been investigating whether hospitals overcharge uninsured patients and subject them to “aggressive” collection tactics in an effort to recover losses from providing indigent care. Hospital executives maintain that they are struggling to “treat as many uninsured patients as possible and deal with corporate financial problems.” The president of St. Louis-based Ascension Heath, for instance, said that last year the health system incurred losses on care for the uninsured at every hospital it operates, adding that bill collectors “pursued payment from between 5% to 10% of those patients.” The AP notes that HHS this year clarified federal fraud and abuse guidelines to “clearly enable hospitals…to help patients who are experiencing financial hardship” after some hospitals expressed fear that offering discounted care to the uninsured would violate federal laws (AP/New York Times, 6/24).
