Hospitals Reconsider Charitable Care For Patients Unwilling to Conform

Are Patients Unable to Pay or Unwilling to Pay?

The enactment of the Affordable Care Act has inherently altered the medical industry as a whole. When it comes to health insurance, you are now legally required to seek coverage. While you may think that individuals and businesses are the only ones affected by Obamacare, hospitals are also experiencing significant changes.

One area of change that hospitals are indifferent about is charitable care. Now, many hospitals are reconsidering charity for patients who refuse to obtain insurance for health care if they qualify. In the past, hospitals would offer free or discounted services to those who are uninsured and unable to afford insurance. However, with this new mandate in place, hospitals are able to see who qualifies and make their health care decision accordingly. Now the question is, are patients unable to pay, or unwilling to pay? Only time will tell how each hospital chooses to take on this new change to the health care system, however, a large majority have already made the move to eliminate their charitable services to those who are simply unwilling to pay.