Los Angeles County health officials are working with partners on a system that could qualify low-income hospital patients for financial aid automatically, without the forms many people never fill out. The plan, reported by KFF Health News and NPR, would make screening software available to hospitals in the county, which has 88 acute care hospitals. The partners hope to have it running by January.
The approach, known as presumptive eligibility, uses data such as credit history and estimated income to identify patients who likely qualify for free or discounted care. Instead of asking patients to apply, the hospital checks for them.
The stakes are large. County public health officials estimate that about…