Medicaid has long covered care expenses received 90 days before enrollment, recognizing that illness (and medical expenses) are not bound by the program’s deadline requirements. A recent federal policy change quietly shortened that retroactive coverage window to 60 days, however, shifting billions in costs from the government to patients, nursing homes, and other parts of the health system. These proclaimed “savings” don’t reflect better care or fewer illnesses, instead they translate into unpaid bills and medical debt, particularly for older adults and people with disabilities who become newly “dual-eligible” as a result of their illness.
In a new piece with The Health Care Blog, I argue that hospitals can soften much of this by choosing how those costs are absorbed. Safety-net hospitals participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program already receive significant drug discounts intended to support care for low-income patients – now they just need to redirect a portion of those funds to cover care that now falls outside Medicaid’s shortened look-back period. Read more about the problem and proposed solution here.
