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HCA execs head to Washington, propose uninsured program

Patient Financial Services Weekly Advisor, May 11, 2007

Politicians have presented their case over the last year. Now the nation's largest hospital group is stepping to the microphone to propose a universal healthcare plan for the country's 47 million uninsured, reports The Tennessean.

HCA, Inc. officials met this week in Washington D.C. with leaders from both parties to detail a plan that would automatically enroll everyone at or below the federal poverty guidelines who isn't already covered by Medicaid or another federally-funded state program.

The federal poverty guideline is currently $9,800 for a single person and $20,300 for a family of four.

The plan, which HCA calls the Health Coverage Passport, would offer those who don't meet the federal poverty guideline criteria assistance based on a sliding scale of income, reports The Tennessean.

"It's a national disgrace that a country as rich as ours hasn't had any active solution to this problem," Jack Bovender, chief executive of HCA Inc., told The Tennessean.

Currently one out of every six Americans is uninsured. Experts believe a million more people will become uninsured over the next year.

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