Sugar Daddy - Part II

Last month, Bob posted on the "news" that some hospitals, looking to bolster potential losses, have begun considering "supporting premium payments and cost-sharing obligations with respect to qualified health plans purchased by patients in the Marketplaces." The idea is that the hospitals (or other providers) would somehow subsidize their patients' premiums in order to make sure they remained insured, and therefore more likely to pay (or have someone pay) their bills.Before we address the latest news on this front, I'm not convinced that this will be any great boon for the providers: after all, if they pay for low-end plans, where are their patients going to come up with the $4,600 and up "cost-sharing" funds? Or are they going to pop for Gold or Platinum plans, with lower out-of-pocket risk but substantially higher premiums?In the newest twist, "A Better LA, a decade-old Los Angeles nonprofit, said last week it was signing up 50 low-income people for health plans in California's health-insurance marketplace." In this case, it's not the providers footing the premiums, but a charity. The plan allegedly has the blessing of the state's Exchange folks, but that doesn't mean that it's clear sailing: "A spokesman for Covered California ... [said] that individuals should ask their own lawyers if the payment would violate any other statute or code."Here's a question: if you can't afford even subsidized insurance, how are you paying those legal fees?Meanwhile, the hospitals seem inten...
Source: InsureBlog - Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs