9- A Bill to Nationally Mandate Hospitals to Offer Parenting Classes
Snider, Susannah. “What to Know About Hospital Financial Assistance Policies.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World
Report, 29 May 2019, money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/spending/articles/what-to-know-about-hospital-financialassistance-policies.
WILL FIANICIAL ASSISTINCE APPLY TO THESE PROGRAMS???
WHEN PATIENTS ARE FACED with huge medical bills, it may seem like there are few avenues for relief.
They can negotiate with insurance. They can haggle with the hospital. They can negotiate with debt
collectors.
But a resource patients may not be aware of is hospital financial assistance, also called charity care. "It's a
requirement for nonprofit hospitals to create financial assistance plans," says Jenifer Bosco, staff attorney
at the National Consumer Law Center.
Understanding whether you qualify for financial help isn't always simple. You'll need to know whether
the facility you visit has a financial assistance policy, the procedure you underwent qualifies and you
qualify as low-income. Interested in learning more? Here's what to know about hospital financial
assistance policies.
What's a Hospital Financial Assistance Policy?
Financial assistance policies help provide free or discounted medical services to patients who meet
certain eligibility standards and are unable to pay for their medical treatments. They were created under
the Affordable Care Act to address medical debt and increase transparency. Specifically, these regulations
apply to nonprofit hospitals and are overseen by the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS.
Patients will find that these programs run the gamut depending on the medical institution and the state
in which it's located, which may have its own regulations. "There's not anything within IRS rules that says
how much financial assistance needs to be provided and who qualifies for financial assistance, so the
hospitals have a lot of leeway to make those decisions," Bosco says.
You may find everything from fairly generous policies offering assistance to families who earn five or six
times the federal poverty guidelines – an annually adjusted measure of income and family size – or you
may find that your facility offers the bare minimum. Some may offer sliding scales, wiping away more
debt for lower-income patients, while others may standardize the relief offered. Nonprofit medical
centers are required to make the financial assistance policy, application form and a plain language
summary of the policy widely available on their websites, so you should be able to find more information
about your hospital online.
First, you'll need to verify that the facility you visited offers financial assistance or charity care. If you
received treatment at a nonprofit hospital, then federal law requires there to be a policy in place. If you
received treatment at a for-profit medical center, it can't hurt to ask if there's financial assistance
available, but the hospital is not federally required to offer it.
Next, you'll want to determine whether your income and family size qualify you for financial assistance.
These eligibility cutoffs vary depending on the hospital. For example, the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center uses a sliding scale to determine assistance amount. If the patient earns between 400% and 251%
of the federal poverty guidelines, he or she will earn partial financial assistance. If the patient earns 250%
or less than the federal poverty guidelines, that patient is eligible for 100% financial assistance and for
UPMC service fees to be waived. UPMC also offers hardship assistance for qualified families where
medical liability exceeds 15% of family income.
Finally, you'll need to have undergone a procedure that qualifies for financial assistance. You may find
that cosmetic procedures, dental care and other treatments are not covered.