The May 11 official end of the PHE will mean much of the costs for treating ongoing COVID-19 cases will shift to private insurers, he said.
“That means higher revenues for insurers, increased out of pocket costs for consumers and more bad debt for hospitals and physicians,” Dr. Keckley said.
With other phenomena such as increasing Medicaid disenrollments, bad debt is likely to increase and lead to increased hostility between payers and hospitals.
“Loss of confidence in the system and a desire for something better may be sparked by the official end of the PHE,” Dr. Keckley said. “And it’s certain to widen antipathy between insurers and hospitals.”
Hospital and health systems have spoken often recently about inadequate reimbursements.
In late April, King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Systems’ president and CEO, Marc Miller, said insurance companies cannot continue to “nickel and dime” health systems if the industry as a whole is to benefit.
