Health Insurance Coverage for Covid 19 Testing and Treatment
As yet, it is very hard to get tested for a myriad of unfathomable reasons. When testing becomes widespread, we will then be able to get a sense of the extent of infection. That assumes that people go in for the tests. The House bill specifies that testing and diagnosis will be free to the patient; that includes all uninsured patients, including the undocumented, about 5-6% of California’s population and 60% of the uninsured in California, and all insured patients including those with otherwise high copays and deductibles. At the moment it’s stuck in the Senate as several key Republican Senators are objecting to paying for sick leave for patients with a diagnosis of Covid 19.
There is no real treatment as yet developed for the disease. So the advice is just stay home and don’t infect others unless the symptoms get bad in which case they will treat the symptoms until you get better. So 80% of those individuals with Covid 19 will just get better on their own, but 20% may well need hospital care – the elderly and/or those with pre-existing medical conditions are at the highest risk. The House bill does not eliminate the copays and deductibles for treatment, which is very unfortunate since those with high out of pocket private insurance coverage and low, moderate and middle incomes will not be able to afford their care; therefore they will not go for care unless and until they are in extremis. Those with Medicaid (MediCal), 13 million lower income Californians, or Medicare (seniors and the disabled), do not face these cost barriers. Those who are uninsured (2.7 million Californians) will face the full cost of hospital and doctor bills; some are eligible for MediCal, but most have incomes too high to qualify or are undocumented. For those who are eligible for but not enrolled in Covered California, the application deadline has been extended to April 30. https://www.coveredca.com/individuals-and-families/getting-covered/special-enrollment/ The program now has higher premium assistance that extends to many more people in California, https://www.coveredca.com/california-subsidy/, and there are California tax penalties for those who fail to enroll in coverage unless excused for financial hardship. https://www.coveredca.com/newsroom/news-releases/2019/12/23/new-health-laws-for-2020-to-start-on-jan-1/
If you lose your job and your health coverage during the coming recession, you can apply for Covered California during the short 60 day special enrollment period. https://www.coveredca.com/individuals-and-families/getting-covered/special-enrollment/ If your income is low enough you may qualify for MediCal.
The confused and halting federal response to the virus combined with the inadequacies of health coverage should give us all pause. While we are all seeing outstanding leadership from state Governors of both parties, the Trump administration has been unable to competently perform the basic tasks of government. If you are a Bernie Sanders single payer supporter, would you really want to entrust the health of all Americans to a future Administration that may not be able to do the most basic of tasks like timely develop and disseminate a test for a new virus? If you are a Trump Administration supporter, do you really want four more years of this, or do you now see some virtues and benefits in health coverage for all Americans? If you are a Biden fan, how would you get all these multiple disparate pieces and programs knit together and pulling in the same direction. If you are an aficionado of high deductible private insurance plans, do you now see and understand some of the drawbacks?
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 3/17/20