Hospitals Scaling Back Charity Care as Health Law Kicks In

Health networks around the country are cutting back on free and discounted care in an effort to push uninsured lower- and middle-income patients to sign up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act, reports The New York Times.

The cost of providing charity care and the new health law’s reduction in federal aid to hospitals that treat large numbers of poor and uninsured people are helping drive the shift. Advocates for the uninsured contend such policies will cause some people to avoid getting treatment rather than buy insurance through online marketplaces that they consider too expensive, even with potential subsidies.

The article cites several health systems that are restricting access to charity care, and many others are considering doing so, with experts predicting the trend will accelerate.

“Do we allow our charity care programs to kick in if people are unwilling to sign up? Our inclination is to say we will not, because it just seems that that defeats the purpose of what the Affordable Care Act has put in place,” said Nancy M. Schlichting, CEO of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.