I’m glad they passed ACA to prevent the tragedy of medical bankruptcies. Do you know if this was a provision of ACA? No one I know knows this about denial of coverage due to status. This is going to be a huge issue. People of all ages are admitted for “evaluation” after they walk in claiming chest pains.
We always categorized patients as inpatient or observation, but on Oct 1 they really tightened up the rules.Now, in a lot of cases- you have to be in the hospital for 2 midnights before you can be considered inpatient. it was a Medicare rule, but I suspect the ACA has something to do with it. When you have more patients under observation, they have to pay more and possibly default on their bills. The hospitals will have a harder time getting paid because the patients don’t have money. This is going to be a huge issue as more and more people find out about this. Chest pain without evidence of a MI is observation.