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After Obamacare Cuts, Hospitals Are Treating More Uninsured Patients
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- Hospitals are experiencing a significant rise in uninsured patients, with some systems reporting increases of about 20%, leading to higher costs and more unpaid medical bills.
- Executives from major hospital systems, including large for-profit chains, have expressed concern over lost revenues totaling hundreds of millions of dollars due to this trend.
- The increase in uninsured patients is linked to the reduction of federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans, as congressional Republicans ended the more generous Covid-era tax credits.
- Enrollment in Obamacare has dropped by approximately three million people, or 13%, since the start of the year, with insurance companies anticipating further declines.
- Many patients are also postponing or forgoing elective surgeries, such as knee replacements, which further impacts hospital revenue streams.
