As Illinois' total in unpaid medical claims to hospitals continues to mount, hospitals are demanding upfront payments from patients with state sponsored insurance plans or denying elective treatments for those patients altogether, reports The Southern.
Below are three things to know about how the state's 10-month budget impasse has affected hospital operations.
1. The state has estimated it owes around $2.9 billion to providers and hospitals in unpaid claims, with payment delays to providers averaging about 17 months, according to the article. The delays have increased since March, when the same member of Illinois Central Management Services told News-Gazette payments were delayed 15 months.
2. Illinois' group insurance plan covers roughly 363,000 state employees, retirees, university workers and others who belong to fully insured HMO and Medicare Advantage plans or self-insured plans. The state's self-insured plans are administered by Cigna, HealthLink OAP, Coventry OAP and Delta Dental. Roughly half of the state's unpaid claims are for those with self-insured plans.
4. As unpaid claims from the state pile up, hospitals have asked state-insured employees and retirees to pay upfront for medical services. If these patients are unable to pay, many providers are declining or delaying treatment indefinitely for elective procedures and non-life threatening conditions until the state begins to fulfilling claims.