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> If they are not making money on Medicare or Medicaid patients it's my understanding they aren't forced to see them. Sort of. It's less the case for outpati

> If they are not making money on Medicare or Medicaid patients it's my understanding they aren't forced to see them. Sort of. It's less the case for outpatient practices unaffiliated with any hospital network, which is why the disparity between insured cost and out-of-pocket costs for those practices tend to be smaller. But unaffiliated outpatient practices are a dying breed. For hospitals, it's more complicated. In theory, this would be true. In practice, almost all hospitals other than the ones the VA operates do take both Medicare and Medicaid because of a confluence of other regulations that makes it unfeasible to refuse care to them. That said, despite this, the amount of money that hospitals lose on public insurance has increased to the point where a number of large hospital networks have discussed rolling back the services they offer to Medicare patients (such as outpatient care) or even cutting it off entirely.

JamesBarney 11y ago
For hospitals, it's more complicated. In theory, this would be true. In practice, almost all hospitals other than the ones the VA operates do take both Medicare and Medicaid because of a confluence of other regulations that makes it unfeasible to refuse care to them. That said, despite this, the amount of money that hospitals lose on public insurance has increased to the point where a number of large hospital networks have discussed rolling back the services they offer to Medicare patients (such as outpatient care) or even cutting it off entirely. Would you mind either explaining the regulations or pointing me at some sources that explain the regulations that bind hospitals into paying for Medicare and Medicaid? And by affiliated, does that mean has admitting rights, or is owned by the hospital network? Sorry not trying to be argumentative just trying to learn about the convoluted world of healthcare.

JamesBarney 11y ago

For hospitals, it's more complicated. In theory, this would be true. In practice, almost all hospitals other than the ones the VA operates do take both Medicare and Medicaid because of a confluence of other regulations that makes it unfeasible to refuse care to them. That said, despite this, the amount of money that hospitals lose on public insurance has increased to the point where a number of large hospital networks have discussed rolling back the services they offer to Medicare patients (such as outpatient care) or even cutting it off entirely. Would you mind either explaining the regulations or pointing me at some sources that explain the regulations that bind hospitals into paying for Medicare and Medicaid? And by affiliated, does that mean has admitting rights, or is owned by the hospital network? Sorry not trying to be argumentative just trying to learn about the convoluted world of healthcare.