Why you need to understand the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Health Insurance Industry of the United States?
The novel strain of coronavirus called COVID-19 is having a profound impact on many facets of the health industry.
Increased Coverage of Covid-19
Companies with many cheap health insurance miami across
the U.S. are broadening coverage and providing superlative access to healthcare
services for their policyholders.
As an integral body of the FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus
Response Act), Congress stamp out cost-sharing for COVID-19 diagnostic testing
services provided under employer-sponsored health plans. In addition, many
health insurance providers have waived the customer cost-sharing and
co-payments for hospitalization and other costs to treat the virus. The Trump
administration has ramped up its attack on the Obamacare Insurance by backing a federal judge's decision to
declare the entire law unconstitutional. For now, Obamacare Plans is still standing.
Expansion of Telehealth Services
Telehealth increases provider capacity and, more
importantly, increases the safety of both patients and healthcare providers by
eliminating in-person appointments. Many insurers are waiving all co-payments
and deductibles for telehealth services for non-COVID-19 health issues.
After repeated legal challenges, in 2012 the US Supreme
Court declared obama care health insurance Plans
constitutional. Although having a majority on Capitol Hill under President
Trump, a Republican abrogation bid failed in melodramatic fashion in 2018.
Democratic leaders have generally accepted Obamacare is not perfect, and have
asserted Republicans to work with them to fix its flaws.
Telehealth has been considered as a cost-saving step by
insurance companies as it has become more widely available, but mandatory
telehealth for routine office visits as a result of COVID-19 will increase
patients’ familiarity with this care delivery method, which may increases its acknowledgement
by patients once the coronavirus health crisis has abated.
Delays in Payment of Insurance Premiums
Certain states have issued legislation allowing individuals
and businesses to defer the payment of insurance premiums for a period time.
While this is beneficial to policyholders, it could
negatively impact insurance companies by reducing cash inflows during a period
when the insurance companies are attempting to accelerate claim payments to
healthcare providers in order to help fund the battle against COVID-19.
While Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act
funding is expected to help businesses retain employees, insurance companies
are still expecting increased policy cancellations as a result of increased
unemployment and the overall economic downturn. Health insurance policy
cancellations will also place an additional burden on the healthcare system
when the patients become uninsured.
Overall Financial Impact on the Insurance Industry
When the 2020 health insurance policies currently in place
were priced, there were no premium increases in anticipation of COVID-19. It is
uncertain whether delays in elective surgeries and other non-emergent
treatments in addition to the savings resulting from telehealth will have a
meaningful impact to offset the increased costs of COVID-19. There is still a
great deal of uncertainty regarding the timeline to contain COVID-19 and the
ultimate costs for the insurance industry to pay for such claims. It is also
uncertain whether the government will provide relief to the insurance industry.
Undoubtedly COVID-19 has the possibility of growing future health insurance
premiums, but the eventual impact will be determined by the outcome of the
aforementioned variables.
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