President Trump said Thursday that the government would pay hospitals directly for caring for coronavirus patients rather than reopening the Obamacare exchanges.
“We are going to try to get them a cash payment because just opening it up doesn’t help as much,” Trump said during the White House press briefing.
Vice President Mike Pence said the administration was considering directing some of the $100 billion allocated to hospitals as part of the economic recovery package recently signed by the president to pay hospitals for any coronavirus treatment for people without insurance.
Pence said the president would elaborate Friday on the plan.
Already a handful of health insurers, such as Cigna, Humana, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, have instituted policies to hold patients harmless for bills for coronavirus treatment.
Still, about 30 million do not have insurance, which means they are not guaranteed coverage for treatment.
