Follow The Money!
I decided to do some research after hearing over and over that hospitals get extra money for corona-virus patients because, although I knew it had some truth, I wanted to know the whole truth. Here is what I found…
We all have heard of the CARES Act but I am sure none of you have read any portion of it. It reveals a lot.
From the document, “The CARES Act Provider Relief Fund is being administered through HHS and has already released $30 billion to providers and is in the process of releasing an additional $20 billion, with more funding anticipated to be released soon. This funding will be used to support healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure uninsured Americans can get treatment for COVID-19.” This is money going to hospitals and of course we can understand a possible need for this, but wait it gets creepy now.
In the Act there is something called Accelerated/Advance Payments. from the Act fact sheet “An accelerated/advance payment is a payment intended to provide necessary funds when there is a disruption in claims submission and/or claims processing. These expedited payments can also be offered in circumstances such as national emergencies, or natural disasters in order to accelerate cash flow to the impacted health care providers and suppliers. CMS is authorized to provide 1 | Page accelerated or advance payments during the period of the public health emergency to any Medicare provider/supplier who submits a request to the appropriate Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) and meets the required qualifications.”
This basically means that Medicare, yes Medicare will pay an advance payment for emergency reasons such as a COVID-19 claim or anticipated future claims.
Keep reading. The qualifications (from the fact sheet) are “To be eligible for the general distribution, a provider must have billed Medicare in 2019 and provide or provided after January 31, 2020 diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. HHS broadly views every patient as a possible case of COVID-19. $50 billion will be disbursed in the General Distribution.”
Read it again! Possible or Actual cases! Keep reading…
Then there is this; “Is this a loan or a grant? If a provider meets certain terms and conditions, the payments received do not need to be repaid at a later date”
Now let’s look at the fact that USA today published an article stating the following “because if it’s a straightforward, garden-variety pneumonia that a person is admitted to the hospital for – if they’re Medicare – typically, the diagnosis-related group lump sum payment would be $5,000. But if it’s COVID-19 pneumonia, then it’s $13,000, and if that COVID-19 pneumonia patient ends up on a ventilator, it goes up to $39,000.”
Wait one more piece of information that will make you think and then my conclusion.
If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, your deductible is paid for by the government! This is also in the CARES act.
If you haven’t already drawn the conclusion, MEDICARE IS FOR PEOPLE OVER 65! YES, SENIORS!
So, if you want to know why more seniors are dying of COVID and If you want to know why there is more testing and more tests are coming up positive, it’s because the very people testing you benefit from your diagnosis!
They know that most people default on their high deductibles plan and they know that Medicare is difficult to deal with so, what a perfect compromise for them. By the way, this extra benefit to hospitals ceases to exist when the national emergency ends!
That means if the hospitals stop reporting increases in COVID deaths they lose the gravy train!
We are fighting a battle to restart our businesses and our lives with people who only have their best interest in mind!
Here are the references I used for this statement!
https://www.cms.gov/files/document/Accelerated-and-Advanced-Payments-Fact-Sheet.pdfhttps://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/20200425-general-distribution-portal-faqs.pdfhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/04/24/fact-check-medicare-hospitals-paid-more-covid-19-patients-coronavirus/3000638001/
