SIOUX CITY, IA -
The implications of Thursday's Affordable Care Act ruling by the Supreme Court, both from legal and medical standpoints, have hospitals and lawyers across the country sounding off.
That ruling means that, beginning in 2014, you could be taxed for not having health insurance.
While that mandate could end up costing you more, it may help some hospitals out.
According to Mercy Medical Center, uninsured patients currently cost the hospital more than $15 million each year.
But the pressure on healthcare providers stretches far beyond the IRS, right now it's all about crunching those numbers.
"On one hand, while some of our patients who today don't have insurance, will have insurance, on the other hand Medicare is reducing their reimbursement, the commercial payers are reducing their reimbursement," said Mercy Medical Center CEO Bob Peebles. "It's not perfect, it doesn't solve everything, but we think people are going to get the right care and the right setting."
Michael Myers, a law professor with the University of South Dakota says while the ruling is constitutional and it might end up benefiting hospitals, in the long run it could be a very expensive proposition.
"This affordable care act, in my opinion, is not going to be affordable," said Myers. "The current system is not affordable as long as you have third party payment and you have a for-profit incentive to do more."
Third party payment basically boils down to someone building up a high cost for procedures and surgeries and only paying a fraction of that cost.
