| Blogs > Sunshine217 > In Celebration of Uniqueness!! |
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Sometimes We Would Love To Be Wrong! There are some predictions I have made when I hope that I am wrong. This appears to be one. Fast rewind some 30 years ago when hospital ER's could, and did,turn you away if you did not have health insurance. Under Reagan, The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)passed in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). It requires hospitals to provide care to anyone needing emergency healthcare treatment regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. EMTALA applies to "participating hospitals." The statute defines "participating hospitals" as those that accept payment from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Medicare program.[2] However, in practical terms, EMTALA applies to virtually all hospitals in the U.S., with the exception of the Shriners Hospitals for , Indian Health Service hospitals, and Veterans Affairs hospitals. It is entirely likely hospitals, under the weight of mounting debt from this requirement, will have precedent to challenge EMTALA if the supreme court strikes down the universal health care act. After all, who can predict an emergency? The following hospital tactics seem to be a preview of some of the coming attractions under the GOP. Debt Collector Is Faulted for Tough Tactics in Hospitals By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG Published: Aprl 24,2012 Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside. This and other aggressive tactics by one of the nation’s largest collectors of medical debts, Accretive Health, were revealed on Tuesday by the Minnesota attorney general, raising concerns that such practices have become common at hospitals across the country. The tactics, like embedding debt collectors as employees in emergency rooms and demanding that patients pay before receiving treatment, were outlined in hundreds of company documents released by the attorney general. And they cast a spotlight on the increasingly desperate strategies among hospitals to recoup payments as their unpaid debts mount. To patients, the debt collectors may look indistinguishable from hospital employees, may demand they pay outstanding bills and may discourage them from seeking emergency care at all, even using scripts like those in collection boiler rooms, according to the documents and employees interviewed by The New York Times. In some cases, the company’s workers had access to health information while persuading patients to pay overdue bills, possibly in violation of federal privacy laws, the documents indicate. The attorney general, Lori Swanson, also said that Accretive employees may have broken the law by not clearly identifying themselves as debt collectors. Accretive Health has contracts not only with two hospitals cited in Minnesota but also with some of the largest hospital systems in the country, including Henry Ford Health System in Michigan and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah. Company executives declined to comment on Tuesday. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine |
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Oh my goodness!! I continue to wonder how the working poor, and average people there manage. Hugssssssss!!!
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Right on Rocketship.
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In September I was in the Hospital overnight. When I received my portion of the bill that the insurance did not pay I proceeded to pay $100 a month. Inspite of this I was contacted by a collection agency. I called the hospital and was told that it was in review. After not hearing anything the following month I called the hospital back and they would not accept a payment telling me the account was in review. I complained to the BBB and the Attorney general but still nothing has changed. The collection agency tells me that it will no go on my credit report. How in the heck can an account go into collection when you are paying? The collections agency and hospital tried to strong arm me telling me to put on a credit card or borrow the money to pay the bill. They also told me to use my tax refund. I received no tax refund this year, instead paying the IRS. I have pretty good insurance and my copay are not too bad but I cannot another stay in the hospital. I can garantee I will be on my death bed and will refuse to go to hospital. A working person cannot afford to now days. Definitely something needs to change. Bruja The wealth of a soul is measured by how much it can feel; its poverty by how little. W. R. Inge
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4/26/2012 9:10 pm |
Well, once the Supreme Court starts overturning Obama passed laws, it's a free for all for other laws to start being challenged and overturned. My take is that much of this behavior in hospitals is in anticipation of the Universal Health Care law being overturned. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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4/26/2012 9:13 pm |
In September I was in the Hospital overnight. When I received my portion of the bill that the insurance did not pay I proceeded to pay $100 a month. Inspite of this I was contacted by a collection agency. I called the hospital and was told that it was in review. After not hearing anything the following month I called the hospital back and they would not accept a payment telling me the account was in review. I complained to the BBB and the Attorney general but still nothing has changed. The collection agency tells me that it will no go on my credit report. How in the heck can an account go into collection when you are paying? The collections agency and hospital tried to strong arm me telling me to put on a credit card or borrow the money to pay the bill. They also told me to use my tax refund. I received no tax refund this year, instead paying the IRS. I have pretty good insurance and my copay are not too bad but I cannot another stay in the hospital. I can garantee I will be on my death bed and will refuse to go to hospital. A working person cannot afford to now days. Definitely something needs to change. Bruja The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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4/26/2012 9:18 pm |
I hear you, but our leaders have thumbed their noses at abiding by our laws, or created such unjust laws for so long, that few think abiding by laws is honorable, or even desirable. In our society, one can become rich and famous for breaking the law and writing a book about it. Obviously we as a population are in admiration, or we would not be making such people rich by buying their books, papers that run their stories. The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page: St. Augustine
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