Health and Welfare
There is a lot of frustration from my District and I agree with you, on the inner workings of the Health and Welfare Department and how much money is spent in its direction. However, last week Frank Vandersloot stopped by my office. Many of you know him to be one of the most visible conservatives in Idaho and one with significant net worth from his company, Melaleuca. As you may have heard, Frank has spent at least a million dollars of his own money to stop unscrupulous debt collectors from preying of victims of our health care system.
He wanted to talk about legislation that will require health care facilities to provide a list of all bills to the patient’s insurance, within 30 days of the procedure. It is critically important that the patient and their insurance know this information in a short and efficient manner so they can make plans for what may be life changing financial challenges.
As it stands right now, some patients are getting bills trickling in for up to a year. And some are getting calls from debt collectors before they get the bill themselves. This is a major concern in Idaho’s healthcare system. Perhaps this will be one step in fixing the problem. Sounds like a reasonable approach, but more to come. |