Donald Trump announced Friday that the government will pay for coronavirus treatments for those without insurance by using funds from the $2.2 trillion economic aid package the president signed into law last week.
‘I can so proudly announce that hospitals and health care providers treating uninsured coronavirus patients will be reimbursed by the federal government using funds from the economic relief package,’ the president said at his daily press briefing.
‘That should alleviate any concern on uninsured Americans have about seeking the coronavirus treatment. That answers the question pretty well. And pretty much in the favor of our great people,’ he added.
His announcement comes on the same day a federal report showed more than 700,000 jobs were lost in March after many businesses closed due to the coronavirus. Nearly 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the final two weeks of March.
President Donald Trump announced the government will pay for coronavirus treatments for those without insurance
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that any hospital that accepts federal funding will ‘be forbidden from balance billing the uninsured for the cost of their care’
The administration was facing heavy criticism for not having a plan to cover the uninsured. Congressional Democrats were pushing for the coverage.
President Trump didn’t answer when he asked how illegal immigrants fit into the plan.
‘We’ll be talking about that at a different time,’ he said.
Vice President Mike Pence said Trump’s decision will ensure that ‘no American will ever have to worry about paying for testing or for coronavirus treatment.’
He noted the federal entitlement programs were already covering coronavirus treatments.
‘I am pleased to report that at the president’s direction, Medicaid and Medicare already expanded to coronavirus treatment and testing early on,’ he added.
‘I will make sure that any American knows — even those with no insurance will be able to receive treatment in the hospital and never have to worry about the bill,’ Pence noted.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that any hospital that accepts federal funding will ‘be forbidden from balance billing the uninsured for the cost of their care.’
‘Providers will be reimbursed at Medicare rates,’ he noted.
He also had a message for those who have lost their jobs.
‘I would also like to remind people that if you have lost employer insurance coverage, you have insurance options that you should look into. You would be eligible for a special enrollment, back on the health care of exchanges, and depending on your states, you may be eligible for Medicaid.’
The administration’s announcement also comes after the White House decided not to extend an open enrollment period for Obamacare.
President Trump had kept alive the idea of expanding the open enrollment period for health coverage due to the crisis, even though is administration is arguing in the Supreme Court that the law is unconstitutional.
‘It’s something we’re talking to a lot of people about. We’ll see what happens,’ Trump said last month.
The White House is not extending open enrollment under Obamacare, despite President Trump saying it was an option amid the coronavirus outbreak
But the White House said Tuesday it would not follow through on having a ‘special enrollment period’ where Americans could still sign-up, Politico reported.
The idea, which had been run by private ensurers who participate in the plan in advance, woud have been to extend the deadline. But the Healthcare.gov website said Wednesday that ‘2020 Open Enrollment is Over. Special enrollment does allow Americans to sign up for coverage if they ‘have certain life changes,’ according to the site. Those changes include the loss of a job – a potential boost for the 3.3 million Americans filing for unemployment last week.
The White House did not provide an immediate explanation for the decision. Neither did the Health and Human Services Department. The administration may have decided expanding enrollment would run counter to its current legal course of trying to have the law overturned.
Last week, former Vice President Joe Biden demanded the federal government abandon efforts to seek to have Obamacare ruled unconstitutional by citing the impacts of the coronavirus.
Biden released a letter to Trump and state attorneys general slamming the ongoing lawsuit.
The Trump administration decided not to open up the Obamacare health exchange to allow people to buy insurance
People wait for a coronavirus test at Elmhurst Hospital in the Borough of Queens on March 31, 2020 in New York
President Donald Trump stands next to a graph during the daily coronavirus task force briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on March 31, 2020 in Washington, DC. With the nationwide death toll rising due to the coronavirus, the United States has extended its social distancing practices through the end of April
Former Vice President Joe Biden demanded the federal government abandon efforts to seek to have Obamacare ruled unconstitutional by citing the impacts of the coronavirus
‘At a time of national emergency, which is laying bare the existing vulnerabilities in our public health infrastructure, it is unconscionable that you are continuing to pursue a lawsuit designed to strip millions of Americans of their health insurance and protections under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the ban on insurers denying coverage or raising premiums due to pre-existing conditions,’ Biden wrote.
‘No American should have the added worry right now that you are in court trying to take away their health care. You are letting partisan rancor and politics threaten the lives of your constituents, and that is a dereliction of your sworn duty. I am therefore calling on each of you to drop your support of litigation to repeal the ACA,’ he wrote.
‘The litigation you are supporting— Texas v. the U.S. —jeopardizes every single one of those protections and threatens the peace of mind and access to care for hundreds of millions of Americans.
Anecdotally, there have been reports of people running up large hospitals bills seeking testing or treatment for possible coronavirus infections. Trump has saluted three major health insurance companies who have said they are waiving patients’ share of costs for treatment for COVID-19. But that won’t apply to people who don’t have insurance.
