https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/us/hospitals-revenue-coronavirus.html
This might be one reason that shady business is happening with hospitals not submitting the correct “covid billing codes” to insurance. Hospitals have lost millions due to postponing elective surgeries.
Are insurance companies pressuring hospitals or providing kickbacks to hospital administrators or doctors for submitting codes like “shortness of breath” instead of “covid” codes?
Due to new laws, many insurance companies, like BCBS, will provide 100%
free medical care, testing, etc.
This is also why we need universal healthcare!
“Hospitals Knew How to Make Money. Then Coronavirus Happened. Surgeries are canceled. Business models are shifting. Some of the hardest-hit hospitals may close, leaving patients with fewer options for care.
The clinic, a Minnesota-based hospital system accustomed to treating American presidents and foreign dignitaries, saw revenue plummet as it postponed lucrative surgeries to make way for coronavirus victims. The hospital network produced $1 billion in net operating revenue last year, but now expects to lose $900 million in 2020 even after furloughing workers, cutting doctors’ pay and halting new construction projects.
The disruption to hospital operations may ultimately leave Americans with less access to medical care, according to financial analysts, health economists and policy experts. Struggling hospitals may close or shut down unprofitable departments. Some may decide to merge with nearby competitors or sell to larger hospital chains. “There is a huge threat to our capability to provide basic services,” Dr. Blumenthal said.
Hospitals are losing an estimated $50 billion a month now, according to the American Hospital Association. And 134,000 hospital employees were among the estimated 1.4 million health care workers who lost their jobs last month, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. Across the country, hospitals reported seeing between 40 and 70 percent fewer patients from late March through early May, many of them scheduled for profitable services like orthopedic surgery and radiological scans.”
Covid Teacher 