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Free care demand is falling

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Karen Weintraub February 13, 2008 06:48 PM

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By Alice Dembner, Globe staff

A new report by the Massachusetts Hospital Association tracks the decline in use of the state’s “free care pool” over the last few years, as the state has enrolled more people in Medicaid and a new subsidized insurance plan.

From fiscal year 2006 to 2007, “free care” visits to hospitals dropped by 12 percent, according to the report. The state pays hospitals to care for patients without insurance or who are underinsured, but has been reducing the payments as more people get insured.

“There has clearly been a demonstrated decrease in demand in Uncompensated Care Pool volume and cost between FY06 and FY07, and this is another indicator that health care reform is succeeding,” said Sarah Iselin, commissioner of the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, which oversees the pool but was not involved in the report. “As we move forward in FY08, we expect to experience additional decline in demand.”

The drop in visits was uneven, with some major Boston hospitals seeing huge drops, while other hospitals saw increases. The report does not offer an explanation for those differences.

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About white coat notes

White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

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