In this new policy brief, America’s Essential Hospitals describes how cost-sharing assistance by hospitals, through charity care policies and foundations, can help vulnerable people afford health insurance marketplace coverage and access vital services.
KEY FINDINGS:
- Affordable Care Act coverage, while subsidized, might still prove unaffordable for many people.
- Cost-sharing assistance by hospitals, through charity care policies and foundations, can help vulnerable people access vital health care services.
- Federal guidance should clarify that hospital-provided cost-sharing assistance is permitted and cannot be barred by qualified health plans.
- Hospitals should consider the impact of IRS financial assistance policies and the potential impact of cost-sharing support on disproportionate share hospital payments.
- It is critically important to identify ways to ease the impact of cost-sharing on the vulnerable patients essential hospitals serve.
