It’s been a busy few days for health care oversight. The health care co-op serving Iowa and Nebraska ran out of money and is on its way to formal liquidation. The state of Iowa is trying to re-assign health care coverage to the thousands of people affected. My role is to try to figure out the federal government’s role in CoOportunity’s collapse. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is responsible for funding the co-ops created around the country through the President’s health care law. The taxpayers have $2 billion invested in these co-ops. The taxpayers only get their investment back when the co-ops succeed. It’s unclear whether the federal government was responsive when CoOportunity sounded the alarm on running out of money. If the federal government couldn’t be reached, or failed to respond adequately, that’s poor management. I’m asking questions, and I look forward to getting answers.
On another topic, the federal government reversed itself on whether consumers who visit http://HealthCare.gov to sign up for health care coverage are subjecting their personal information to private companies that advertise and send marketing offers based on the data.
When confronted by the Associated Press, officials at the Health and Human Services Department at first said the outside companies were using the data only to analyze website mechanics to help consumers. Later, according to the AP, the agency changed the website to “reduce the outbound flow of personal information. Before that, the website was explicitly sending personal data to third-party sites.”
It’s still unclear how consumers’ information is being used. Before the reversal, a fellow senator and I asked the Administration for a response about how this information is used and by whom. Even with the reported reversal, I still expect a complete response. People using http://HealthCare.gov should have confidence that their information is secure and not being used for sales pitches by outside firms. The Administration should be able to provide assurances with accuracy and credibility.
On a third topic, I’m asking questions of a Missouri non-profit hospital that reportedly sues large numbers of low-income people over treatment bills instead of working with patients to offer reasonable payment plans for medical care. I wrote to Mosaic Life Care of St. Joseph, Mo., after investigative reporters described aggressive billing from the hospital of low-income patients, including thousands of lawsuits and paycheck garnishments.
Non-profit hospitals are obligated under law to have a financial assistance policy and alert those who can’t afford care of any assistance they qualify to receive. Congress tightened the law in 2010, enacting provisions I co-authored to make these obligations clear. Occasionally, a hospital seems to go out of its way to avoid helping the poorest patients. When these cases come up, the hospitals should explain their practices and how they comply with the spirit and the letter of the law. It’s a matter of accountability for the tax breaks they receive.