Coronavirus: Trump says hospitals will be reimbursed for treating uninsured patients

Hospitals that treat uninsured patients will be reimbursed by the federal government, Donald Trump announced on Friday in a move to encourage and make it easier for such people to seek treatment.

The president’s announcement came at the end of a week during which he again vacillated wildly from potential virus-fighting policy position to another, sometimes opposite one, and millions more Americans lost their jobs and sought unemployment benefits. US stock markets, which Mr Trump watches closely to assess his own re-election odds, had another rollercoaster-like five days, starting the week with gains before again falling off. As another weekend with most Americans confined to their homes or a few “essential businesses” began, the president faced new questions about ordering them to stay at home and wear some kind of protective mask when they do have to go outside.

“Today, I can so proudly announce that hospitals and healthcare providers treating uninsured coronavirus patients will be reimbursed by the federal government,” the president said during his daily Covid-19 briefing. “This should alleviate any concern uninsured Americans may have about seeking the coronavirus treatment.”

The announcement came as the president and senior Trump administration officials have been peppered with questions about why they are not reopening the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges to allow uninsured people to obtain coverage before they possibly contract Covid-19. The plan announced on Friday would allow those people to get care for the virus specifically, at least on paper, free of charge. Hospitals who treat the uninsured would then be reimbursed at Medicare rates, officials said, not explaining who would pay any difference between those rates and the costs of caring for an uninsured virus victim.

The move also appeared to serve a political purpose, providing an answer to his likely Democratic general election foe.

“During this outbreak, when healthcare coverage is more important than ever, Donald Trump is refusing to give those who have been uninsured access to the best resource we have: the ACA’s marketplaces,” former vice president Joe Biden said this week.

On their coming showdown, the president guaranteed the presidential election will go on as planned in November. He did not say why he is so confident, but earlier this week he and his public health team said they expect a deadly April with life returning to normal possibly by early June. He also said he opposes voters casting ballots by mail because people “cheat” when they mail in their ballots; he did not give any evidence to support that claim. Growing agitated with the reporter who asked about the 3 November election, Mr Trump finished his emotional answer and ended the evening’s briefing.

The president continued to push policies in the mould of a conservative federalist, saying he wants to leave many calls up to governors. That includes stay-at-home orders, which some governors in hard-hit places have issued. Mr Trump again said he will leave such decisions up to state chiefs executive.

Asked about a shortage of medical gear and supplies that are needed for virus victims and health workers, Mr Trump again tried to blame the Obama administration for a lack of medical equipment and supplies, saying, “the shelves were empty”.

But senior officials who worked in the Obama administration have said they left the federal government prepared, shooting back that Mr Trump’s dismissive attitude towards the virus in the late winter and early spring doomed America to a major outbreak.

Those debates likely will rage for some time. On Friday, the White House wanted to focus on their plan to help the growing list of uninsured Americans get Covid-19 treatment at hospitals.

The unveiling of the plan came after vice president Mike Pence on Thursday evening said the administration will “find a way” to pay for the coronavirus treatment of uninsured people.

The Economic Policy Institute has urged the White House to extend the open enrolment period for the 38 states that have access to Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges.

From unemployment claims in March, analysts estimate roughly 3.5 million people lost their employer-based health insurance in the middle of the national health emergency, according to the institute.

Roughly half of the US workforce gets their insurance through their employer or through an employer-sponsored plan available to someone in their family. Without those jobs, they also can lose their health insurance. The institute notes that its calculations “might understate the loss of health insurance coverage because they do not account for family members who are no longer covered because of the policyholder’s layoff. And because not all layoffs result in [unemployment insurance] claims, we will underestimate the actual magnitude of job losses.”

Meantime, Mr Trump was asked about a comment Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a White House policy adviser made on Thursday.

“You know what ‘our’ means? The United States of America,” he said. “And then we take that ‘our’ and we distribute it to the states.”

Mr Kusher had said this at Thursday evening’s coronavirus press briefing: “The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpile that they then use.”

‘Nasty’ reporter

The president berated a female reporter for asking about Mr Kushner’s comment, calling her “nasty” and telling her “you should be ashamed of yourself”.

Meantime, the president confirmed that his own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending all Americans wear a “cloth mask” when they venture out into public.

“I just don’t want to wear one myself,” Mr Trump said, saying it would not seem quite fitting while he is “sitting in the Oval Office behind that resolute desk” as he meets with foreign leaders and other dignitaries.

But, he said, “if people want to” wear a mask, “that’s okay”.

As the pandemic outbreak continues to ravage the economy, Mr Trump and senior Republican and Democratic lawmakers are discussing a fourth aid package.

Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi will be a leading figure in those talks. She and Mr Trump are not on speaking terms after a years-long feud, including her ripping up her copy of his State of the Union address inside the House chamber in February. She says the two have not spoken since that night, but she insists her negotiations since with treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and a few other administration officials “work”.

Asked about their tense relationship possibly hindering an expected “phase four” recovery bill, Mr Trump claimed of Pelosi: “I would talk to her if it would help the American people.”

Additional reporting by Alex Woodward