La. Hiv Patients Have Difficulty Getting Insurance

Guidance recently issued by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services encouraged health plans to accept the Ryan White program payments, but insurance companies say the law doesn’t require it. In a statement, Maginnis said the prohibition is designed to ensure that people aren’t being steered by a third-party payer to a specific product or health provider, to combat attempts to defraud the system. “We are applying this policy across the board to all individual members, regardless of their health status, type of plan purchased or previous method of paying for their health care coverage,” he said. But Moriba Karamoko, director of the Louisiana Consumer Healthcare Coalition, said people with Ryan White funds are the largest population that uses third-party payments to cover insurance premium costs. “What will end up happening is people will be blocked from private marketplace insurance and they’ll be pushed into HIV clinics that the state maintains,” Karamoko said, adding that those don’t provide the comprehensive care that insurance would provide. The Louisiana Health Cooperative wouldn’t explain its decision to not accept the Ryan White program funds as payment. You will find the original content at this website http://www.ajc.com/news/ap/financial-services/la-hiv-patients-have-difficulty-getting-insurance/ndTcH/

Source: aids-write.org - February 19, 2014 Category: HIV AIDS Authors: aidswrite Tags: current news Source Type: blogs