Not the grand wealth redistribution taxpayer scheme dreamed up by DC, but a twist in the usual premium payer system.
You may or may not know it, but hospitals that rely on government funding are hurting. In the infinite wisdom of the creators of Obamacare it was decided that hospitals will no longer have uncompensated care so they won't need those federal dollars. As a result of these Democrat cutbacks, several rural hospitals are closing. Metro hospitals like Grady in Atlanta that typically serve the poor and uninsured are reducing services due to loss of federal dollars.
So what is a hospital to do?
One solution is to buy Obamacare health insurance on their sickest patients. This is much less expensive than cost shifting or writing down the cost of uncompensated care.
It has been suggested that hospitals, other healthcare providers, and other commercial entities may be considering supporting premium payments and cost-sharing obligations with respect to qualified health plans purchased by patients in the Marketplaces. HHS has significant concerns with this practice because it could skew the insurance risk pool and create an unlevel field in the Marketplaces. HHS discourages this practice and encourages issuers to reject such third party payments. HHS intends to monitor this practice and to take appropriate action, if necessary.
J P Morgan
Before addressing the idea of a third party payer, I need to emphasize a point that has been made repeatedly at InsureBlog.
The exchange, AKA the marketplace, is not the ONLY place you can buy individual health insurance. There is no reason to buy on the exchange UNLESS you qualify for a significant subsidy and you don't care which doctor or hospital is a participating provider in your exchange plan.
In fact, if a hospital or other provider is considering funding the purchase of an Obamacare policy they would be advised to see if THEY are a participating provider in the policy.
Some will suggest this idea of a third party payer is gaming the system, to which I respond . . . . SO?
The closer we get to 2014 one wonders if Obamacare is a misnomer. Perhaps it should be called Frankencare since this is very definitely becoming a monster.
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