Most hospitals offer some form of charity care or financial assistance to cover part of patients’ medical bills, but who qualifies can vary dramatically by hospital. Now, researchers are calling for some form of standardization, radio station 90.5 WESA reported March 24.
A November study, published in Health Affairs, compared financial assistance policies from 2,989 nonprofit acute care hospitals. It found that income limits for patients to receive charity care ranged from 41% to 600% of federal poverty guidelines. Some hospitals also have limitations for financial assistance, based on residency requirements and insurance.
Here are four things to know:
1. The hospitals that were most generous in their eligibility policy tended to serve counties with lower levels of poverty and uninsurance.
2. Nonprofit hospitals are supposed to publicize their policies in the lobby of the emergency department and on the bill, but some hospitals do a better job of this than others.
3. WESA also said some hospitals make it difficult to find information on their website or require a lot of paperwork to apply — including proof of income, proof of assets, residency paperwork and identity paperwork — which often makes it difficult to complete the application.
4. According to WESA, advocates are trying to lower the barriers to financial assistance by pushing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to end medical debt credit reporting so that it no longer appears on people’s credit reports or harms credit scores. Some states are also passing laws to ban the sale of medical debt to third parties and requiring hospitals to have minimum levels of financial assistance eligibility criteria. Enacting a concept known as “presumptive eligibility,” North Carolina recently launched a program where participating hospitals can see whether patients are enrolled in other state benefits, and if they are, will ensure they automatically qualify for financial assistance without having to apply, according to WESA.
