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business Thursday 26 March 2020
Aetna waives patient payments for coronavirus hospital stays

By TOM MURPHY lems, it can cause more se-
AP Health Writer vere illness, including pneu-
One of the nation's biggest monia and death.
health insures is waiving pa- A recent study put togeth-
tient payments for hospital er by researchers with the
stays tied to the coronavi- Covered California health
rus. insurance exchange found
CVS Health's insurer Aet- that a lengthy hospital stay
na said Wednesday that of 12 days could cost a to-
many of its customers will tal of $72,000 on average
not have to make copay- nationally, depending on
ments or other forms of cost factors like how long a pa-
sharing if they wind up ad- tient stays in an intensive
mitted to a hospital in the care unit.
insurer's provider network. Insured patients would only
The move could save those pay a slice of that bill, but
patients thousands of dol- that slice could amount to
lars, depending on their as much as $6,000 depend-
coverage and how much ing on their coverage.
health care they've used Many plans have deduct-
so far this year. ibles that patients must pay
The waiver lasts through before most of their cover-
June 1. It applies to the in- In this Dec. 4, 2017 file photo, the CVS Health logo appears above a trading post on the floor of age starts.
surer's 3.6 million customers the New York Stock Exchange. They also have out-of-
who have fully-insured cov- Associated Press pocket maximums, or limits
erage, which is usually of- wide, crippled economies and affordable access" to tend a payment waiver to for how much each patient
fered through a small busi- and forced restrictions on treatment during the pan- the bills many patients will has to spend on care each
ness. Big employers that the movement of millions of demic. fear most if they become year. Experts say one hos-
offer Aetna coverage also people in an effort to stop Many insurers have waived sick. pital stay could easily push
can chose to waive those the virus from spreading patient costs for testing or For most people, the new a patient up to the plan's
payments, a spokesman further and overwhelming doctor visits and telemedi- coronavirus causes mild or limits.
for the insurer said. health care systems. cine to encourage people moderate symptoms, such "If you end up in a hospi-
The new coronavirus has CVS Health Executive Vice to get help with coronavi- as fever and cough that tal you are going to blow
caused a global pandem- President Karen Lynch said rus symptoms. clear up in two to three through your deductible,"
ic that has infected more in a statement the com- But Aetna, which covers weeks. For some, especially said Peter Lee, the Califor-
than 428,000 people and pany is trying to ensure that nearly 23 million people, is older adults and people nia exchange's executive
killed over 19,000 world- its customers have "simple the first major insurer to ex- with existing health prob- director.q

Stocks jump, heading for first back-to-back gain in 6 weeks

By STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. lasting confidence. The too much uncertainty,"
TROISE and ALEX VEIGA Federal Reserve and cen- said Tony Rodriguez, head
AP Business Writers tral banks are also offering of fixed income strategy at
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks tremendous aid by cutting Nuveen.
are leaping to more big interest rates and support- "The bottom implies it's not
gains on Wednesday, as ing lending markets, but going lower, and I don't
Congress moves closer to investors say they need think that," he said. "For it
approving a $2 trillion res- to see the number of new to become a bottom, you
cue plan for the economy. infections peak before would need to see much
The S&P 500 was up more they can feel comfortable better news coming out
than 3% in afternoon trad- knowing how deep the on the health care side of
ing and was on track for looming economic down- this."
its first back-to-back gain turn will be. The number of known in-
since the coronavirus out- "There's a lot of bad news, fections has leaped past
break set off a brutal sell- there's very little tangible 450,000 people worldwide,
off five weeks ago. The good news and there's a and more than 20,000
big gains mean the stock In this image provided by Jonathan Corpina, Jonathan Corpina, lot of uncertainty in be- have died, according to
market is now down by Senior Managing Partner at Meridian Equity Partners Inc., who tween," said Jack Ablin, Johns Hopkins University.
about a quarter from its normally works on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, chief investment officer at Overall, more than 112,000
works in his home office in Armonk, NY., Wednesday, March
record high set last month 25, 2020. Cresset. have recovered.
after earlier being down Associated Press Investors are also still wait- For most people, the new
by more than a third. ing to see the details of coronavirus causes mild or
The White House and Sen- the blow to the economy open up economic ac- Washington's plan, which moderate symptoms, such
ate leaders announced an as businesses shut down tivity," said Darrell Cronk, will include direct pay- as fever and cough that
agreement on the aid bill to slow the spread of the chief investment officer of ments to most Americans clear up in two to three
early Wednesday, and a coronavirus. Wells Fargo Wealth and In- and aid for hard-hit indus- weeks. For some, especial-
vote was expected in the "They're hitting on all the vestment Management. tries. It's unclear when the ly older adults and people
Senate by the end of the right elements of what the But even optimists say the House of Representatives with existing health prob-
day. Investors were anx- U.S. economy needs dur- package provides just the could vote on the plan. lems, it can cause more
iously waiting for this kind ing the shutdown to bridge second leg of three that "It's too early to call a bot- severe illness, including
of aid, which will help blunt itself to the other side to markets need to regain tom because there's way pneumonia and death. q