OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:35 AM PT — Saturday, April 4, 2020
The Trump administration has guaranteed that all uninsured COVID-19
patients will be treated free of charge. On Friday, the president
announced a plan to reimburse hospitals for all costs accrued during the
treatment of patients without health insurance.“Today, I can so proudly announce that hospitals and health care providers treating uninsured coronavirus patients will be reimbursed by the federal government, using funds from the economic relief package Congress passed last month,” stated President Trump.
The measure will be funded from a partial allocation of the $100 billion earmarked for health care providers in the CARES Act relief package.
The move came amid concerns over the likely cost of treatment for people left without coverage, especially following recent job losses. Some had pressed the administration to reopen federal Obamacare exchanges to close this gap.
However, the president recently announced he was working on a different solution, which eventually lead to Friday’s decision.
Under President Trump’s plan, hospitals will be barred from “double-dipping.” The funds will be reimbursed on the condition uninsured patients are not also billed for their treatment.
Hospitals will also be banned from charging uninsured patients for care provided by doctors not employed by the hospital, a common cost arising during unscheduled medical visits.
To ensure the solvency of federal funds, hospitals will be reimbursed at Medicare rates.
The administration has already made testing for COVID-19 free at the point of use. This new directive will reportedly use the same tested mechanism to make sure the funds are delivered as promptly as possible.
“Getting the uninsured access to the
care they need is a top priority for President Trump. The CARES Act
signed by the president includes another $100 billion for health care
providers. Under the president’s direction, we will use a portion of
that funding to cover providers’ costs of delivering COVID-19 care for
the uninsured, sending the money to providers through the same mechanism
used for testing.”
– Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services
The White House has not yet announced how the rest of the $100 billion destined for health care providers will be spent. Secretary Azar has said specifics should be announced soon.
President Trump also announced some private insurers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and Humana, have pledged to waive copays from insured patients treated for COVID-19 over the next 60 days.
