Just heard a good one from my neighbor.

[Hoyt]

10. While don't believe the count is high, there is SOME truth to the fact

that hospitals are often paid based upon patient’s diagnosis. Medicare, Medicaid, and some private insurers pay based upon diagnosis. They get paid more for bacterial pneumonia than viral pneumonia, as an example.

I suspect payments for CV19 are a lot more than many short-term admissions. Hospitals spend a good bit of money to look for reasons to bill for higher paying diagnoses and they can bill as "suspected" diseases. But, they have to be careful in fudging diagnoses, too. Medicare and insurers spend big money auditing them to prevent fraud/abuse.

But, none of that changes the fact the right wing rube is full of BS.