Hospitals Say They Need $100 Billion
Health Care

Hospitals Say They Need $100 Billion

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Professional groups representing hospitals, doctors and nurses say they need $100 billion to help pay for the surge in expenses related to the Covid-19 outbreak.

In a letter to Congress Thursday, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association said “hospitals are currently losing up to $1 million per day” treating patients infected with the virus, and they expect to losses to continue and possibly grow larger. The requested funds would be used to pay for patient treatment, equipment, childcare for providers, and expanded hospital capacity.

Axios’s Bob Herman notes that the hospitals, flush with cash in recent years, will receive payment for the services they perform. “Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurers will still pay hospitals and doctors for all coronavirus care they provide,” Herman said Thursday, adding that providers have already created new billing codes for coronavirus-related services.  

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