Excerpt
SUMMARY: In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off. Sarah Varney of Kaiser Health News reports on financial gains made by some hospitals as more patients are able to pay their bills, and the heavy price being paid by hospitals in states that opted against expansion.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): The White House said this week that more than 6.4 million people have signed up for health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace so far during this year’s open enrollment season.
But even more people, nine million-plus, have gotten covered by Medicaid in recent months. And the decision by states whether or not to expand that federal-state program for the poor and those with disabilities is having a serious effect on the financial health of hospitals.
Sarah Varney from our partner, Kaiser Health News, has that story.
SARAH VARNEY, Kaiser Health News: A steady drizzle hasn’t deterred Jason Whiten from coming to this clinic in South Seattle to see if he qualified for Apple Health, Washington’s popular Medicaid program.
ISRAEL RUBINOS, Neighborcare Health: You don’t have any medical insurance, right?
JASON WHITEN: No.
ISRAEL RUBINOS: No? OK. And how about dental?
JASON WHITEN: No.
ISRAEL RUBINOS: No dental, no medical?
JASON WHITEN: No.
ISRAEL RUBINOS: OK.
SARAH VARNEY: Whiten, who is 34 years old, has gone without health insurance for 16 years.
ISRAEL RUBINOS: So you got approved for the Washington Apple health program…
JASON WHITEN: OK.
SARAH VARNEY: He can come here to this Neighborcare Health clinic, instead of the (much more expensive) emergency room, to see a physician. It’s his first insured primary care checkup since becoming an adult.
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