Many uninsured coronavirus patients reportedly don't qualify for Trump's coverage program because of other illnesses


President Trump's stopgap program that covers many medical costs for uninsured coronavirus patients has found favor with some hospital executives, The New York Times reports. Dr. Shareef Elnahal, the chief executive of Newark, New Jersey's, University Hospital called it a "really progressive policy we were really surprised by." The hospital received $8.2 million for treating nearly 800 uninsured COVID-19 patients who accounted for about a third of its coronavirus patients, but the process hasn't been so smooth everywhere.
While New Jersey providers have received $72 million in coronavirus treatment claims, the Times reports, those in New York have received about half that, and the variance continues throughout the U.S. There just doesn't seem to be an explanation as to why. "It's just not clear to me what's going on," said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Molly Smith, vice president for coverage and state issues forum at the American Hospital Association, said claims have been low in part because of "serious backlogs and delays," but she also noted that many patients likely aren't getting into the system at all because they don't qualify.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The association says some hospitals have reported not submitting anywhere between 40 and 70 percent of claims for uninsured patients. That's because many hospitalized coronavirus patients suffer from other serious medical conditions that are registered as their primary diagnosis instead of the virus. Harris Health, a public system in Houston, Texas, for example, did not bill the federal fund for 80 percent of the roughly 1,300 uninsured COVID-19 patients it had treated through mid-July because many of them had other medical problems, the Times reports. Read more at The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Donald Trump takes a cognitive test | May 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's editorial cartoons feature a 'Bribe Force 1' 747 from Qatar, the concepts of a trade deal, ICE agents surrounding the Statue of Liberty, and cuts to Medicaid.
-
Why are white South Africans emigrating?
The Explainer As the US welcomes Afrikaner refugees, the general exodus of South Africa's white population continues to grow
-
Why the weather keeps getting 'stuck'
In the Spotlight Record hot and dry spring caused by 'blocked' area of high pressure above the UK
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'