This is part three of our series “What could have been: Covid-19” to discuss how our response to Covid-19 would have differed under Medicare for All.
When a 60-year-old intubated coronavirus patient in Philadelphia was told she needed to be airlifted to another hospital 20 miles away with more resources – it was life or death.
She spent six weeks at the new hospital and survived. When she came home, a letter arrived: The air ambulance company said she owed them $52,112 for the trip.
This story is all too common. Surprise medical billing refers to large medical bills that patients are burdened with after receiving care that is out of their health insurance provider network – often without knowing and sometimes impossible to avoid. It’s one of the main contributors to medical debt.
Surprise billing simply does not exist under single-payer systems because care is financed centrally. There are no provider networks, and no opportunities for providers to gouge patients based on arcane and often unavoidable rules.
On top of that, patients are not subjected to hours, days, and months of arguing with insurance companies who have a financial incentive to deny charges.
Congress was close to passing a bipartisan bill last year to ban this practice, but it fell apart at the 11th hour after private-equity firms who profit from surprise medical billing poured millions into advertisements opposing the plan. We need a complete health care system overall that removes predatory companies all together.
Surprise medical billing preys off people in emergency situations, such as in ambulance rides and visits to the emergency room where the patient has no choice. It’s morally wrong.
With a single-payer, Medicare for All system, patients would be able to get the care they need without the worry that they might be later hit with crippling medical debts.
We need more people rising up against surprise medical billing especially in the midst of a global pandemic. Will you add your name to build the pressure against surprise medical billing and grow support for Medicare for All?
Thank you for taking action.
Jasmine Ruddy
Organizer
Nurses’ Campaign for Medicare for All
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