The University of New Mexico Hospital, an academic medical center in Albuquerque, has a new policy requiring patients to pay half the cost of their nonemergency surgery prior to the procedure, according to a KRQE report.
Hospital officials said that doesn't mean the hospital would deny a patient nonemergency surgery that is medically needed.
If a nonemergency surgery is considered "medically urgent" by physicians, then the 50 percent upfront payment is deferred under a separate existing policy, the report states.
Hospital officials also noted all of these decisions are made after consulting with the patient.
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