Hospitals consider paying premiums for some low-income patients

Hospitals in New York, Wisconsin and Florida may help some patients pay their premiums for health insurance coverage as a way to ensure they receive payment for care they rendered, Kaiser Health News reported. Much of that assistance would be in the form of lump sum payments, with enrollment managed by other organizations within their service area, such as the United Way. However, the plan received some pushback from the insurance sector, which claims such a practice could drive up overall costs by skewing their risk pools and including more sicker enrollees who otherwise would not be able to obtain coverage. Read the full story at FierceHealthPayer